PICTURES 


AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


By 
T, R. BEAUFORT 


THE GETTY CENTER LIBRA 


PICTURES & HOW 
TO CLEAN THEM 


WORKROOM WITH NORTH LIGHT 


From an etching by IVilfrid Huggins 


PICTURES & HOW 
TO CLEAN THEM 


TO WHICH ARE ADDED 


NOTES ON THINGS USEFUL 
IN. RESTORATION WORK 
BY 


THOMAS RICHARD BEAUFORT 


-FREDERICK A. STOKES 
COMPANY PUBLISHERS 


26 


Printed in Great Britain by Richar 
> be ace! 


+. . wis 
4. 


PREFACE 


Tus little volume will be found to form a 
striking example of multum in parvo, for its 
two hundred odd pages reflect the experience 
gained from a life’s work on picture restora- 
tion. Yet this experience alone would scarcely 
have formed a sufficient qualification for the 
authorship of a work such as this; some know- 
ledge of the amateur restorer, his methods and 
the pitfalls to which he is usually subject, is 
also necessary if the author is to make his book 
of real service and assistance. Mr. Beaufort is 
fortunate in this respect. From pre-War days 
he has advised on inquiries relating to picture 
restoration—inquiries which were made by 
Art Trade Fournal readers and which were 
passed to him. He has therefore enjoyed 
contact, either personal or epistolary, with art 
dealers all over the country, and he doubtless 
has better information as to where the average 
restorer goes wrong than any man living. 
Obviously such information is the first essential 

Vv 


Vi PREFACE 


to advising on the correct procedure for com- 
plete success. 

This work is thus the natural outcome of a 
demand for restoration knowledge that has 
been expressed at various times and in various 
ways. ‘The requests for general advice on 
picture restoration received by the Ari Trade 
Fournal became so prolific, that in 1917 the 
Editor arranged with Mr. Beaufort for the 
publication of an exhaustive series of articles 
covering the whole subject. The last of these 
appeared in April this year, and the series, 
reprinted and collated, now appears in its 
present form. Quite a number of the articles 
were extended and elaborated at the special 
request of readers, and the large amount of 
correspondence which followed, provided very 
fitting testimony to Mr. Beaufort’s efforts. 
Should the following pages contain any pas- 
sages that are not as clear to the reader as he 
would like them, the author would be very 
pleased to clear away any such apparent diffi- 
culties for him. 


BERNARD DOLMAN. 
September, 1926. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


List of works to which reference is made, and of other 
authorities consulted : 


Binyon, Laurence, Catalogue of ‘fapanese and Chinese 
Prints in the British Museum. (London, 1916.) 
Church, Sir Arthur H., Chemistry of Paints and Paintings. 
(London, 1915.) 

Ficke, Arthur Davison, Chats on ‘Fapanese Prints. (Lon- 
don, 1915.) 

Field, G., Chromatography. (London, 1885.) 

Jametal, Maurice, L’Encre de Chine.’ (Paris, 1882.) 

Laurie, A. P., Pigments and Mediums of the Old Masters. 
(London, 1914.) 

Lee, Vernon, Genius Loct. 

Merrifield, Mrs., Ancient Practice of Painting. (London, 
1854.) 

Portal, the Baron Fréderic, Symbolic Colours in Antiquity. 

Pye, John, Patronage of British Art. (1845.) 

Slater, J. W., anual of Colours and Dye Wares. (Lon- 
don, 1882.) 


vii 


o 


Ee 


i, 


~ 


CHAP, 


II. 


VII. 
VIII. 


CONTENTS 


Tue Workroom AnpD 'Too.s : : 
Crieanine Picrures . ; : : 
VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 

CLEANING VARNISHED PRINTS : : 
CLEANING AN UNVARNISHED PRINT , 
Crieaninc WaTER-cOLOUR Drawincs . 


CoLours AND HOW To BLEND THEM . 


.Mounts anp MovunrTInc . : ? 


Acips Usep 1n ReEsToRATION ° . 


ALKALIES : ; tl ok : 
CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES, SIGNS, ETC. : 
SYMBOLISM IN ART . : “ ; 


Inprian Inx: rrs Manuracture, Uses, 
AND HOW TO CLEAN DRAWINGS MADE 
WITH IT : ; ‘ : . 


CLEANING JAPANESE Prints i : 


PaRCHMENT AND VELLUM AND SOME 
MovuntTantTs . ; : / ; 


PHOTOGRAPHING PicTuRES . . , 
Picture Faxinc ANpD Picture FAKERs . 


PasTELs, CRAYONS, AND CHALKS: 
Meruops or Cuieaninc THEM : 


ix 


PAGE 


102 


IIO 


119 
130 
140 


153 


CHAP 


XIX. 


XX. 
XXI. 


CONTENTS 


New Meruops or ResTorRING: 
CLEANING AND RESTORATION OF 


Museum Exuisits. 


e 


THE 


Tue Care or Picrures AND DrawiIncs 


Asout Oup PotTtTery 


PAGE 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


To face page 


Worxroom with Nortu Licut . Frontispiece 
(From an etching by Wilfrid Huggins.) 


Toots: (I), (II), anp (III) . 
VaRNISHED Print, Harr CLEANED 


Grorciana, Ducuess or Devonsuire. (Specimen 
of a Varnished Print Cleaned and Restored) 


Francis, SEVENTH Eart or Newsurcu. (Speci- 
men of a Black Lead Pencil Drawing Cleaned 
and Restored) : : F 

Saint Ursuta. Saint Lucy . 


Cuozan oF CHOJI-YA, ATTENDED BY HER ‘Two 


Kamuro. (Specimen of Cleaning) 
(By Kiyonaga, the Japanese theatrical poster artist.) 


Aubert Durer (1471-1528). (Specimen of Re- 
pairing) eet ves : : 


(He was the first who engraved on wood.) 


Leypen (Lucas Jacoss, called Lucas Van), (1494- 
1533). (Specimen of Cleaning and Repairing) . 


Franciscvs Snypers (Specimen of Cleaning) 


xi 


10 


34 


36 


54 
98 


IIo 


142 


144 


152 


PICTURES & HOW 
TO CLEAN THEM 


- 3 ~ 
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CHAPTER I 
THE WORKROOM AND TOOLS 


GOOD workroom and good tools go a 

long way towards the production of good 
work. A skilful workman will, of course, get 
good results under difficulties, and it follows 
that bad workmen will do bad work, however 
good their tools may be, but I hold that those 
who exercise any art should never have their 
attention distracted from their work by defect of 
their tools and appliances. I propose, therefore, 
in this chapter to give a description of the various 
tools and appliances that I know from experience 
offer the greatest advantages for everyday work 
in restoration. 

Experience has proved that a large well- 
lighted workroom is the best and a north or 
north-eastern aspect is preferable. In my work- 
room I have two windows, one facing north, the 
other south. When restoring oils or water- 
colours, I use the north, but for nearly all other 

B 


2 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


work the southern aspect. If it is possible to 
get a top as well as a side light so much the 
better, but in any case there should be a good 
light for working without being exposed to the 
direct rays of the sun. Everything in the room 
should be within convenient reach, and there 
should be sufficient space to conduct all opera- 
tions in comfort. A large-sized deal table is 
invaluable, especially if it has drawers. ‘The 
next and most important item is a sheet of thick 
plate glass, the thicker the better; a useful size 
is 28 by 42 inches, for apart from its use while 
manipulating prints it has the further advan- 
tages of being useful as a pasting board, mount- 
ing board, water-colour palette, press, and when 
the day’s task is done work can be stowed away 
beneath the glass and kept quite flat. For years 
I have used a series of these plate glasses for all 
the above-mentioned and many other purposes. 
Indeed, I know of no item that isso useful. As 
a pasting board the print or sheet of paper laid 
upon it can be thoroughly pasted and it will not 
greatly matter if the paste gets on to the glass 
because after the pasting is finished the glass can 
be wiped clean with a wet sponge. Used as a 
mounting board the glass is perfection, and for 
this reason. Let us suppose a print is to be 


THE WORKROOM AND TOOLS 3 


mounted on a sheet of heavy Whatman paper. 
Having pasted our print as above described, we 
take another sheet of plate glass, and placing 
this on the bottom of the bath we flush the bath 
with water and immerse the sheet of Whatman 
paper therein, allowing the water to flow over 
the paper for a few minutes in order that it may 
become pliant and perfectly stretched. The 
paper will then be quite flat on the glass and 
may be lifted from the bath; the superfluous 
water then being allowed to drain off. Several 
sheets of blotting-paper are then spread over 
the paper and gently pressed to remove any 
excess of moisture. After this has been done 
carefully the paper will be quite ready to receive 
the pasted print. ‘The pasted print is then laid 
on the damp Whatman paper and covered with 
sheets of blotting-paper, which are gently and 
firmly pressed over the whole surface. By this 
time the print and its mount will be ready for 
the final process as follows: Turn up all round 
about one inch of the margin of the Whatman 
paper, then carefully paste this inch thoroughly 
with strong paste, and to make quite certain that 
it is thoroughly pasted go over it a second time. 
The turned-up inch of paper is then pressed down 
into perfect contact with the glass. The whole 


4 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


is then stood to dry slowly, either in an equal 
temperature or a slight draught. Do not 
hasten the drying process—by this I mean don’t 
stand the print near a fire or in the sun, or the 
print will either leave the glass or dry cockled. 
Again, if you start drying the print in the open 
air or slight draught don’t take it into a warm 
room to finish off, or you will have a similar 
result to that I have just described. I find it 
better to mount prints at night and let them 
stand on a shelf in the workroom till the morn- 
ing, when they are generally dry. 

Having decided upon the amount of margin, 
this is measured and marked with pencil and the 
print is cut from the glass perfectly mounted 
and quite flat, without a crease or air bubble. 

As a water-colour palette I prefer plate glass. 
The colours seem to spend more freely upon it, 
and one gets a better idea of their tone and value 
if a piece of white paper is placed beneath the 
glass. And lastly, plate glass makes a splendid 
press, providing your table is quite flat, for after 
putting a drawing board on the plate glass you 
can pile almost any weight upon it, whereas with 
a wooden press the screw is very liable to go 
with any extra pressure. Moreover, wooden 
presses are generally made of beech and so liable 


THE WORKROOM AND TOOLS 5 


to get the tiny beetle that makes the worm-holes 
and rots the wood. 

Zinc baths are often recommended for print 
restoration. They are useful certainly when 
employing boiling water to soak off prints that 
have been mounted with hard mountants on 
millboards, but in all other processes these baths 
are injurious because the various solutions used 
act upon the zinc, and an important point to 
remember is that zinc is affected by alkalies, 
which will eventually dissolve it if strong 
enough. 

An ideal bath can be made of plain seasoned 
wood, for neither water, lime, acids, nor alkalies 
act very much upon it when they are used in 
weak solutions. The wooden bath should be 
made of inch stuff if large work is to be done, 
and may be constructed as follows: First of all 
get a large clamped board similar to an archi- 
tect’s or engineer’s drawing board. ‘This makes 
a good bottom for a bath. Next screw on with 
brass screws 2-inch fillets to form the four sides. 
At one of the corners of the bottom of the bath 
make a hole and fit a bung or plug and the bath 
is complete. It may be urged that this is a 
rather cumbersome affair, but I do not find 
mine cumbersome, though it is a very large one. 


6 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


It is mounted on very strong trestles, and stand- 
ing over a sink is more or less of a fixture. It 
has been in use many years, and has never given 
the slightest trouble or needed repairs. If only 
used now and then the bath should be damped 
occasionally or the wood will get too dry and 
warp. 

There is not much mechanical apparatus 
necessary in restoration work, but besides the 
ordinary tools there are a number of things that 
are more or less necessary. Among others, I 
find the following of great utility, viz. an 
engineer’s or architect’s T-square of polished 
mahogany with bevelled ebony edge, also one 
or two set-squares for use in adjusting prints 
squarely on their mounts. A pair of compasses 
or dividers will be found to be indispensable 
for measuring margins, etc. A pair of canvas 
straining pincers and small tack-drawer should 
likewise be obtained. Several flat hog varnish- 
ing brushes, 3 or 4 inches wide, in nickel ferrules, 
will be useful for pasting. ‘These brushes shed 
a few hairs till they have been in use for a little 
while. ‘They should not be allowed to stand in 
paste, but after use should be rinsed out and 
hung up to dry. 

As regards pastes and mountants, I have 


THE WORKROOM AND TOOLS 7 


described these at length in Chapter XIV. One 
or two sponges for wiping the plate glass clean, 
etc., are also needed. A flat camel-hair brush 
such as is used for damping the tissue paper 
of letter copying books is one of the best things 
for damping the surface of a print, or for lifting 
off small particles of dust or grit such as are 
sometimes found adhering to the surface after 
the final rinsing of prints. ‘This kind of brush 
is most useful when it is necessary to put broad 
washes of water-colour or to tint a mount. 
One or two shoemakers’ knives are preferable to 
mount cutters for trimming paper and prints. 
A Turkey oil stone of the best quality should 
be kept for putting a keen edge on trimming 
knives. ‘lake care to get a slightly hard stone, 
and while in use see that it is kept oiled, for the 
stone improves in quality as the oil soaks in. 
A good stone may sometimes be picked up 
second-hand and is, I think, preferable to a new 
one. Use lubricating oil of good quality for 
oiling the stone. A small hack-saw is handy 
for cutting off projecting and rusted screws or 
nails in old print strainers; also a small punch 
for driving in these nails or those at the corners. 
if loose or weak. 

Always keep all steel tools well sharpened and 


8 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


polished sothat rust may not collect onthem and 
then fall upon prints and papers, thereby caus- 
ing iron mould, which is difficult to remove, 
even with oxalic acid. Accidents happen in the 
best-regulated workrooms, notwithstanding one 
may use every possible caution and foresight ; 
it is therefore as well to have remedies at hand, 
for promptness of application is often an im- 
portant factor in the efficiency of a remedy. 
Every accessory should have its place, so that it 
can be used at once without any trouble or loss 
of time. For smoothing out or rubbing down 
rough places, scratches or creases in paper or 
prints a burnisher is generally used. An agate 
is about the best burnisher, such an one as 
gilders use for burnishing gold. As the quality 
of an agate is improved by continual use a 
second-hand one that has had a good deal of 
wear is preferable to a new one. 

The palette-knives commonly sold in the 
shops are generally made of steel and are useful 
for scraping the palette, but one of ivory is 
preferable for spreading or mixing colours, since 
some of the yellows assume a dingy dark-green 
hue ; many of the greens, too, and other colours 
experience a change when touched or manipu- 
lated with iron or steel palette-knives. After 


THE WORKROOM AND TOOLS 9 


any oil work is finished the palette should be 
scraped clean of colours, and well wiped with a 
rag or pad of cotton wool on which there is 
a little spirit of turpentine. 

In no particular ought the restorer who 
wishes to ensure superiority in the execution 
of his work be more circumspect than in the 
choice of colours, brushes and pencils. Oil- 
colour brushes are either round or flat of various 
sizes and almost always made of hog bristles. 
Personally I prefer the flat hog brushes. Pencils 
differ from brushes, in the smallness of their 
size, and in being made of sable and camel-hair. 
The smallest are fitted into quills and placed on 
sticks. In choosing sable pencils a very simple 
trial will prove whether they are fit for your 
purpose. You have only to dip them into a glass 
of water and bring them to a point on a piece 
of blotting-paper or sponge. ‘Then, if they 
present a sharp point and are flexible and 
springy, the pencils are good. ‘The sharpness 
of the point is of particular consequence in small 
pencils. With regard to the stick attached to the 
pencil, it should not be less than 10 or 12 inches 
for oil-colour, but may be shorter for water- 
colours. In mounting a pencil choose a round 
cedar stick that barely fits the quill. The 


10 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


pencil should then be dropped into a cup of hot 
water for a few minutes so that the quill gets 
quite soft; it should then be wiped dry and 
pushed softly and firmly on to the stick or 
holder, and when dry will never slip off again. 
A mahl stick of bamboo is necessary to steady 
the hand while painting in oil upon an upright 
canvas. A rack easel (see illustration) is the 
most useful form, and if a number of holes are 
bored as indicated, with a peg to fit them, a long 
piece of cord tied to peg and attached to the top 
hole will make the easel more convenient and 
form a rest for the mahl stick, instead of having 
to put it on the surface of pictures while working 
upon them. 

There are other articles and tools which it 
may be desirable, or even indispensable, for the 
restorer to have among his apparatus, but which 
do not require any description of their nature 
or use, or any directions for their selection. 

In concluding this chapter let me say that all 
materials should be the best that money can buy ; 
the best is always good, and any extra money 
spent in this direction is more than compen- 
sated for by the saving of time, labour, temper, 
and bad language. The right thing of best 
quality will always beat any cheap substitute, 


PALE EY KNIVES 


PALETTE 


=: SABLE HAIR BRUSH FOR LINES 
RACK EASEL | ie AND RIGGING IN SHIPS 


= 


T SQUARE SET SQUARE SWAN 


TOOLS. I 


ia i i = HOG HAIR 
Hi MIE BRUSH FOR 
i" l Hf — , G 
iii INIA = = 


i 


CAMEL HAIR 
FOR WATER 


HOG HAIR BRUSHES 
FOR 

PAINTING IN 

OIL COLOURS 


RED SABLES 
FOR 
PAINTING 
IN 
OIL COLOURS 


a 


CANVAS STRAINING PINCERS 


HALF-ROUND FILE ABOUT 10 INCHES 


Used sideways to knock out old tacks 


PUNCH 


TWEEZERS 


TOOLS. IIL 


THE WORKROOM AND TOOLS II 


notwithstanding the shopkeeper tells us ‘“ we 
reject the substitute chiefly because it is new, 
but let it be presented to us sufficiently often so 
as to rid it of its unusualness and the chief 
obstacle to acceptance is removed.” But the 
fact is, we have become so accustomed to an 
altered condition of affairs by reason of the 
endless and in some cases senseless restrictions 
caused by the late war that we had to accept 
anything we could get in the way of materials 
and carry on. 


CHAPTER II 
CLEANING PICTURES 


T may be said that the knowledge of every 

picture-cleaner is virtually derived from an 
experimental process, which he on first under- 
taking the art has carried out for himself, and 
that he has formed his judgment upon it, and 
decided upon his own process of carrying on 
the operation for himself. If you inquire of two 
or three picture-cleaners, and they inform you 
candidly as to the methods they pursue, you 
will generally find that the method recom- 
mended by one is condemned by another. 
There are many methods of working, and 
results of equal excellence have been produced 
by each. Some of the most proficient workers 
adopt one process, others another: each one 
has his own peculiar mode. Success or failure 
depends as much upon the agent employed as 
on the means applied. Restorers differ—so 
with artists. What would apply to one painter’s 

12 


CLEANING PICTURES 13 


work would not to others ; one painter uses as a 
medium merely oil without varnish, another 
uses oil and varnish (megilp), another varnish 
with turpentine ; others will first squeeze their 
colours from the tube upon blotting-paper to get 
rid of oil, whilst others will add poppy oil with 
sugar of lead, and so ad infinitum—no two 
painters paint their pictures in the same way ; 
no artist, through the whole course of his life, 
paints his pictures with the same materials ; he 
changes his materials, and it is therefore im- 
possible to lay down a rule which shall be of 
general application in picture cleaning and 
restoring. 

Sir T. Sebright, an assiduous amateur re- 
storer, who practised in Rome, was wont to say 
that there are no secrets about picture-cleaning, 
and that the processes generally used were 
either friction or solvents, such as turpentine, 
spirits of wine, soap or potash water. As regards 
soap, potash water or alkalies of any kind, there 
is not much to be said in their favour, because 
excellent or satisfactory results cannot be obtained 
with them; on the contrary, there are many 
disadvantages in using them, so much so 
that the writer has frequently had pictures 
brought to him which had been virtually ruined 


14 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


by their use. On one occasion a dealer bringing 
such a picture was questioned as to its deplor- 
able state, and it was found that the party had 
been “‘ monkeying ”’ with, of all things, a soap 
that won’t wash clothes. 

In the opinion of some it is preferable to put up 
with any state in which a picture may be found 
rather than run the risk of cleaning. For this 
reason many masterpieces look almost valueless, 
because being so covered with dirt, the features 
of the pictures are almost entirely obscured, 
and it is impossible to see their beauties. 

I remember a very dirty panel once being 
submitted to me with the query “Is it worth 
cleaning?” It is true at first sight this picture 
did not look much, and no doubt the dirt and 
varnish of two hundred years had prevented its 
value being recognised, but a careful cleansing 
revealed a delightful Cuyp, steeped in the calm 
and luminous atmosphere of evening, with all 
his subtle method of contrasting and blending of 
adjacent colours in the golden hue and ruddy 
ray of a sinking sun. 

I mention this particular case because there 
is very little risk in cleaning Cuyp, thanks to 
his firm and hard glazing. It is true he some- 
times scrumbled his warm yellow or saffron 


CLEANING PICTURES 15 


grounds in the distance, where the sky ap- 
proaches the horizon ; but still it is sufficiently 
hard to enable an experienced hand not to go too 
low in cleaning. 

Claudes are very difficult pictures to clean, 
because Claude had a method of scrumbling a 
film of colour over the whole picture in a very 
refined way, which produced his peculiar 
quality of gradation of light and general glow 
and tone. When cleaning Claudes it is well 
to bear this fact in mind, otherwise in removing 
the varnish one is likely to shift the glazing. 
Again, Paul Veronese had the habit of painting 
blue draperies for the most part in water-colour, 
and for this reason there is danger in cleaning 
his work. ‘Terburg and Metsu are also difficult 
to clean, because their pictures are generally 
very delicately painted. 

Perhaps of all pictures those of Sir Joshua 
Reynolds are the most hazardous to clean, be- 
cause this artist was always experimenting, so 
much so that he would destroy pictures in order 
to learn how they were painted. Sir Joshua 
also made abundant use of copal varnish and 
bitumen; so did Sir David Wilkie use these 
two substances, but in a more skilful manner. 
Haydon is said to have rushed at his canvases 


16 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


with brushes brimming with asphaltum; and 
it is quite possible that Turner got some of his 
effects by similar methods and by toning and 
glazing. When Turner was asked what he 
mixed with his colours he answered, ‘‘ Brains.”’ 
In cleaning pictures it is necessary to use brains 
—and plenty. 

From this we see that the care required in 
picture-cleaning is enormous and meticulous ; 
and that one can very easily damage a picture 
through rudimentary methods or lack of the 
necessary chemical knowledge of the pigments 
and solvents to be used in the process of 
solving and restoration. 

In this connection one is inevitably drawn 
to the question whether a picture sent for reno- 
vation really emanates not alone from the artist, 
but even from the period to which it is attri- 
buted. While the office of the restorer is re- 
stricted to the work set before him he has for 
several reasons to verify the pigments used in 
the original painting. First of all, the pigments 
used in the original picture may or may not 
have been ground-in and mixed the ordinary 
way. When I say the ordinary way I mean that 
they have been mixed in the grinding for the 
purpose of obtaining a colour or a tint. Some 


CLEANING PICTURES 17 


of these, thanks in a large measure to the varnish 
rather than the medium, have become compara- 
tively permanent, but when the restorer has to 
cover “ bald ” pieces or “ work up ”’ the colour or 
pigments which are dull, the question arises what 
pigments may be used with safety and due regard 
to permanence on the portion to be restored. 
Chemical affinity and chemical reaction are 
still problems that puzzle the wisest, and my 
opinion, borne out by the experience of more 
than forty years, is that there is practically no 
chemical test which can be applied that will 
solve the difficulty. There were pigments, and 
many of them, used by the older masters, which 
were practically permanent, for it must be under- 
stood that no colour is really permanent. But 
although we take two colours, each of which is 
permanent in itself, our trouble is that when 
super-imposed, chemical action sets in and 
renders one or both of them more or less fugi- 
tive. This is a phenomenon that no amount of 
writing could explain, nor can experience ex- 
plain it, but to the man who has handled 
thousands of pictures, there comes an additional 
“sense ” from experience which shows him how 
to treat them. It may be, and indeed often 
happens, that one has to make a good many 
Cc 


18 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


experiments with the margins of a picture before 
dealing with the body of it. Sometimes these 
experiments for finding what emollients to use 
can be made with the various solvents, but more ~ 
often than not a microscopical examination of a 
section of the pigment is necessary before it is 
safe to start work. 

Where pictures submitted to me have been 
experimented upon I invariably discover that 
they have been tried either in the middle or 
some prominent part with methylated spirits, 
soap powder, ammonia or some other strong 
alkali which has not only removed the varnish 
but frequently some of the paint. 

Let me now give a hint or two concerning the 
method of friction, which some consider the 
safer process, because you lift the varnish by 
raising it in a palimpsest of white dust, and as 
long as the dust rises white you are safe. To 
some extent this is true, but you must be very 
careful how far you go and you must know 
where to stop, for if the process is carried too 
far the paint begins to lift, as you will discover 
by putting the smallest quantity of the white 
dust under a microscope. Here is where experi- 
ence comes in, for a skilful restorer with his eyes 
shut can tell by the very sensitive tips of his 


CLEANING PICTURES | 19 


fingers when he has gone far enough. One 
grand thing to remember is, don’t “ skin ” your 
picture ; in other words, don’t remove quite all 
the varnish if you wish to preserve the glazings 
and tones or coup de maitre of the artist. Care- 
fulness in this respect saves much after-work 
in the matter of retouching. 

In order to clean a picture varnished with 
mastic the restorer takes a little powdered resin 
and, dipping the tip of the second and third 
fingers into the resin dust, so that a very small 
portion adheres, proceeds to rub gently the top 
left-hand corner of the picture with a circular 
movement of the finger-tips. He gradually 
works right across the picture, then reverses 
the movement and comes back again to the 
starting place, continuing the process till the 
whole surface of the picture has been gone over 
and all the surface dirt and varnish has been 
removed. The dust is then brushed off and the 
picture wiped with turpentine. If the process 
has been done carefully and thoroughly the 
picture will be found to be perfectly clean and 
all that now remains necessary is to revarnish it. 

It may often happen that a picture has suffered 
by its travels and got scratched, or after we have 
removed the varnish blemishes appear beneath 


20 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


the varnish. In such cases it is impossible to 
do without a certain amount of retouching, 
inasmuch as almost every old picture has been 
more or less injured, and cleaning necessarily 
renders such injuries apparent. Indeed, it is 
doubtful if there are many pure pictures in the 
world by the older masters; that is, pictures 
that have not undergone some more or less 
injurious process. Even in the actual lifetime 
of Paul Veronese (1528-1588), Boschini says 
some of his pictures had been injured by inju- 
dicious cleaning. 

Remarkable skill has been shown by some 
artists at Rome in restoring the touch of the 
original master so as to deceive the most com- 
petent judges of art, but on the whole cleaning 
and restoring abroad is less carefully performed 
than in England. 

As to the relining of pictures, this is really a 
craft by itself, and a good English reliner in my 
humble opinion has no equal; his work is 
invariably clean, neat, thorough, and above all 
his charges are moderate, so much so that it is 
far the better plan to give out any relining work 
than attempt to do it oneself. I might add that 
in very bad cases of damage to oil paintings, as 
for instance their falling from the wall and the 


CLEANING PICTURES 21 


back of a chair going right through them, it is 
well to have them doubly lined. 

After relining and before attempting to lay 
any colour or retouching upon an oil painting, 
one must carefully fill up with “ stopping ”’ all 
flaws, cracks, etc.; for if this be not done the 
blemishes are bound to show no matter how 
carefully touched in. Where the injury is a 
large hole or a piece of the canvas missing, the 
damage can be made good with a patch of old 
canvas which should be carefully cut to fit into 
the damaged part. When these points are 
accomplished, proceed to prime the “ stoppings,”’ 
that is roughly match in patches or damage with 
the colours of the surrounding parts to serve 
as a groundwork for the succeeding retouching. 
Sufficient time must be allowed for the “stop- 
ping,” etc., to dry, according to the state of the 
weather ; from two to three days will generally 
be sufficient. The work is then ready for re- 
touching. As this can seldom be done at one 
painting, no second retouching of colour ought 
ever to be applied till the former is perfectly dry. 

For “ stopping ”’ some restorers use whiting 
and boiled oil, others whiting with patent size, 
but of all stoppings I prefer one made of about 
equal quantities of whiting and flake white. 


CHAPTER III 
VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 


N the last chapter the method of removing 

varnish was described; let us in this deal 
with the method of revarnishing a picture. 
Before doing so it would be as well to give some 
account of the various varnishes in use. 

A varnish to be really good, ought to be 
limpid, brilliant, transparent, and durable. The | 
durability of a varnish is its greatest and rarest 
excellence. 

The foundation of all varnishes are gummy 
and resinous substances ; and the only liquids 
that can be combined with them, so as to form 
varnishes, are oils, and spirit of wine. 

The principal gums and resins used for 
varnishes are copal, shellac, and mastic. The 
solvents chiefly employed are spirits of wine 
and spirits of turpentine. | 

Speaking generally spirits of turpentine are 
always good in proportion to their inflammability 


—that which burns most readily being the best. 
22 


VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 23 


The smell, too, of the inferior kind is more 
unpleasant and less powerful than that of the 
better sort. When doubts are entertained as 
to its purity, pour about two tablespoonfuls into 
a saucer, and place it to evaporate in the sun, 
which it ought to do entirely in the course of 
two or three hours ; if a greasy sticky residuum 
is left, it is a proof that the turpentine is adul- 
terated, or not sufficiently rectified, and ought 
to be rejected. 

Mastic is a resinous substance, the product 
of the tree Pistacia Lentiscus, a native of the 
Levant, and particularly abundant in the island 
of Chios. It is obtained by making transverse 
incisions in the trunks and branches of the trees, 
whence the mastic slowly exudes. The best 
is in the form of dry, brittle, yellowish, trans- 
parent tears; it is nearly inodorous, except 
when heated, and then it has an agreeable 
odour; chewed it is almost insipid, feeling at 
first gritty, and ultimately soft; it is used in 
medicine, but its virtues are trifling. Mastic 
resin dissolved in boiling alcohol and in spirits 
of turpentine yields a tender and glossy varnish 
which is largely used for varnishing oil paintings, 
but this varnish yellows with age, and becomes 
cracked and fissured. 


24. PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


Mastic varnish is usually prepared by dis- 
solving the mastic resin in spirits of turpentine. 
In order to prevent the mastic from agglutinat- 
ing, warm powdered glass, or warm fine white 
quartz sand, may be added to the resin before 
it is mixed with the solvent. 

Sir Arthur H. Church, late Professor of 
Chemistry at the Royal Academy, says the fol- 
lowing recipe gives a varnish which contains 
nearly 25 per cent. of its weight of mastic, 
but the proportion may easily be increased or 
diminished. 


I4 ozs. of mastic. 
44 ozs. of spirit of turpentine. 
6 ozs. of powdered glass, or fine sand. 


When the mastic has dissolved the varnish is 
allowed to cool, and then poured off into a closed 
glass vessel, in which it is allowed to rest until 
perfectly clear. Or it may be cleared by 
filtering through a plug of dried cotton fitted 
into a funnel. The funnel should be covered 
with a glass plate for the purpose of preventing 
any escape of vapour during the process of 
filtration. 

The varnish prepared according to the above 
recipe is nearly colourless, and leaves a brilliant 


VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 25 


glassy surface. But this surface is very brittle, 
and easily rubbed by gentle friction with the 
finger ; in fact, it consists of little more than the 
original mastic resin, the fragility of which is 
well known. To get over this brittleness, 
various remedies have been devised. Some- 
times, Venice turpentine, Canada balsam, or 
Elemi resin is introduced in small quantities, not 
exceeding one-seventh in weight of the mastic 
used. In consequence of such admixture of a 
natural soft turpentine, the varnish produced 
dries more slowly, and leaves a less brittle and 
tougher surface. Ultimately, however, these 
balsams become brittle like mastic itself. This 
remedy is, therefore, of a temporary character, 
but, at the same time, these additions do not 
interfere with the ease with which the varnish, 
when old and discoloured, can be removed from 
a painting by means of solvents or of friction, 
without injuring the glazing pigments and 
colours which may be immediately below it; 
they also render the varnish easier of application. 

Many other substances, such as fixed oils 
and liquid paraffins, have been recommended 
to toughen a spirit varnish. In many French 
mastic varnishes camphor is introduced. The 
camphor, however, gradually escapes by volatil- 


26 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


isation, the varnish losing its lustre, and becom- 
ing brittle and fissured. It has also been recom- 
mended to employ oil of spike lavender instead 
of oil of turpentine in making mastic varnish, 
but the only advantage is that the varnish thus 
prepared shows less tendency to ‘‘ bloom ”’ than 
the ordinary kind. 

Copal, improperly called gum copal, is a 
singular kind of resin that exudes naturally from 
different large trees, and is imported partly from 
America, and partly from the East Indies. The 
best copal is hard and brittle, in rounded lumps 
of a moderate size, easily reducible to a fine 
powder, of a light lemon yellow colour, beauti- 
fully transparent, but often, like amber, con- 
taining parts of insects and other small ex- 
traneous bodies in its substance. It has neither 
the solubility in water common to gums nor the 
solubility in alcohol common to resins, at least 
in any considerable degree. It may be dis- 
solved by digestion in drying linseed oil and 
other volatile menstrua. ‘This solution forms a 
transparent varnish, which, when properly 
applied, and slowly dried, is very hard and very 
durable. Much of the copal varnish of com- 
merce is not made from true copal or animé at 
all, Cowry, or Kauri-pine resin (Maori name 


VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 27 


for the tree Agathis australis, formerly Dammara 
australis), which is much easier to dissolve, being 
employed instead—the product, however, is 
decidedly inferior. Sir Arthur H. Church tells 
us that sometimes several resins are mixed 
together in the preparation of a so-called copal 
varnish. A guarantee of genuineness, in which 
the name or names and proportions of the resin 
or resins employed is inserted, should always be 
demanded when buying copal varnish. The 
various copal-like resins employed in varnishes 
to prevent brittleness and cracking all vary 
much in composition and properties, although 
they resemble one another in their solubility. 
They are, however, on the whole, unsatisfactory 
resins, and so far as picture varnishing is con- 
cerned the “best picture mastic ”’ is the proper 
varnish to use. 

During the late war it was very difficult to 
procuremany chemicals used in restoration work, 
and when one did get even small quantities they 
were very frequently sophisticated, so much so 
that to render them fit for use one had to resort 
to various expedients. ‘The following is one 
to increase the strength of common rectified 
spirits of wine, so as to make it equal to that of 
the best. Take a pint of the common spirits 


28 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


and put it into a bottle, of which it will only 
fill about three-quarters. Add to it half an 
ounce of pearl-ash or salt of tartar, powdered as 
much as possible. Shake the mixture fre- 
quently for about half an hour, when a consider- 
able thick sediment will be separated from the 
spirits, and will appear along with the undis- 
solved pearl-ash, or salt, at the bottom of the 
bottle. Then pour the spirit off into another 
bottle, being careful to bring none of the sedi- 
ment or salt along with it. ‘To the quantity just 
poured off, add half an ounce of pearl-ash, 
powdered as before, and repeat the same treat- 
ment. Continue to do this as often as you find 
necessary, till you perceive little or no sedi- 
ment: when this is the case, an ounce of alum 
powdered and made hot, but not burned, must 
be put into the spirits, and suffered to remain 
some hours, the bottle being frequently shaken 
during the time; after which the spirit, when 
poured off, will be found free from all impuri- 
ties, and equal to the best rectified spirits of 
wine. 

In varnishing, the strictest cleanliness is 
required, and seeing that as a rule sufficient 
care is not taken where the varnishing of pictures 
is concerned, a few words may not be out of 


VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 20 


place as to the method of procedure. In the 
first place, before varnishing, it is well to warm 
the canvas slightly and then, if the picture is at 
all loose or slack, tap the wedges of the stretcher 
so as to make it fairly taut. It also facilitates 
the process of varnishing if the varnish be 
slightly warmed, but above all things varnishing 
should be done in a dry warm room free from 
dust. | 

The picture should then be gently rubbed or 
wiped over the entire surface with an old soft 
silk handkerchief, in order that all dust may be 
removed. Next, take a saucer or shallow dish 
—an old sardine tin makes an ideal varnish 
receptacle if the edges are smoothed, and if a 
piece of stout wire be soldered across the top 
about a third from one end. ‘The wire not only 
makes a standing support for the brush while 
varnishing pictures, but is very useful for draw- 
ing the brush across in the event of too much 
varnish being taken up. 

Before commencing to varnish slightly warm 
the tin or saucer. Having poured out sufficient 
varnish, take a perfectly clean brush, and dip 
it therein sufficiently to make it moderately full. 
Having laid your picture on a flat surface, com- 
mence your varnishing at the top left-hand 


30 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


corner with a swift flat stroke of your brush 
from left to right ; then take off your brush and 
place it just below the point at which you began. 
With another swift stroke sweep across the 
picture, and so continue till the whole picture 
is varnished over. If the operation has been 
carefully done, a beautifully smooth coat of 
varnish will be the result. 

A very handy varnish pan may be made of 
two empty sardine tins. Fill the lower tin with 
dry silver sand and carefully solder the second 
tin on top of this. When any varnishing is to 
be done the pan is stood on the hob for a few 
minutes to warm the sand. ‘The pan is then ~ 
removed tothe work table and the varnish poured 
in, and being kept warm by the sand, flows 
readily and smoothly from the varnish brush. 

Should the brush drag or not work smoothly, 
the varnish is probably too thick and needs 
diluting with a little turpentine. Care, how- 
ever, should be taken in not adding too much 
turpentine, or the work will be uneven and 
streaky. 

If after varnishing the work looks patchy, 
uneven, or streaky, do not attempt to retouch it 
with the brush, as it will probably only make 
matters worse. It is much the better plan to 


VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 31 


lay the picture by till it is thoroughly hard dry, 
and then friction the varnish off and revarnish. 
As what has just been said applies more par- 
ticularly to fairly clean paintings, it may be 
necessary to add a few words on the cleansing of 
very dirty pictures. It is not advisable, as I have 
already stated, to use alkalies on oil paintings, 
but when the varnish is found to be encrusted 
with dirt and the dust of ages, lukewarm soap 
and water may be applied gently with a sponge 
or chamois leather. Great care should be 
taken, every time after the sponge or leather has 
been passed over the varnish, to rinse it in clear 
warm water, and to squeeze it thoroughly out 
before it be again dipped into the soap and water. 
Castile soap, which is made of olive oil, is the 
best soap to use. 
- And now as to brushes, in which above all 
things cleanliness is essential. After either 
painting or varnishing has been done every brush 
or pencil should be washed out, thoroughly 
rinsed in warm water, and shaped before it is 
laid to dry. Although this involves a consider- 
able amount of trouble, the advantages resulting 
therefrom are many. It lengthens the life of 
the brush and enhances its suppleness, for a 
good hog-hair brush by frequent washings will 


32 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


become almost as soft as sable. Above all, 
there is the pleasure of working with clean tools, 
for without these good workmanship is un- 
attainable. 

Some workmen consider the thorough wash- 
ing of brushes unnecessary, and often content 
themselves by rinsing them in turpentine, and — 
wiping them with a rag. ‘This is most injurious 
to brushes, for turpentine has the effect of making 
the bristles of a brush brittle. It is also essen- 
tial never to let a brush get hard dry with either 
varnish or paint in it, for it will ruin the 
brush. 

If by any chance a brush has been put away 
without having been cleansed, and the paint or 
varnish has got hard dry, it is not the slightest 
use trying to remove either the paint or varnish 
with turpentine or soap. The best method 
is as follows. Take a fairly large gallipot and 
put into it enough soap powder and boiling 
water to make a very strong solution and three 
parts fill the pot. When cool drop the brushes 
into the solution and let them stand for two or 
three days or such time as it takes to soften out 
the paint or varnish. The brushes are then 
thoroughly washed with boiling water, and 
finally well rinsed with cold water. This is 


VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 33 


very important, for any trace of soap left in the 
brush will not allow painting to dry hard. 

As to brushes themselves, some use a flat 
camel-hair brush similar to those used for damp- 
ing the paper in letter-copying books, others 
prefer the hog-hair brush ; but if it can only be 
obtained, an old Chinese lac brush is the best 
of all brushes for varnishing. Such a brush 1s 
costly, but with care will last a lifetime. 


CHAPTER IV 
CLEANING VARNISHED PRINTS 


O as to furnish a concrete example, it may 

be well to describe in detail the process 
used on the coloured varnished print here repro- 
duced. The print in question is a portrait 
bust of Linnzus, the Swedish naturalist. In 
order that the state of the print may be seen, 
we will clean one half and leave the other half 
in statu quo. Let us take a porcelain dish such 
as is used by photographers, or, better still, an 
enamelled iron dish. The print being in very 
dirty condition, both back and front, we first of 
all take a small piece of new bread or dough and 
rub over the back of the print in order to remove 
as much of the dust and dirt as possible. After 
doing this, we turn over the print and decide to 
remove the varnish from the right-hand side. 
Let us now take a damp sponge and wipe the 
half of the print we have decided to clean. 
The object of doing this is to remove anything 

34 


CLEANED 


VARNISHED PRINT HALF 


CLEANING VARNISHED PRINTS 35 


that may have accumulated on the varnish, such 
as gum, fly marks, etc. In the event of there 
being any drops of candle grease, they should 
be gently scraped off with the finger-nail and 
the place should be cleaned with a pad of wool 
dipped in turpentine. We now take our 
enamelled dish and lay the half side of the print 
we are to clean on the bottom of the dish, and 
gently pour over it a small quantity of methy!l- 
ated spirits, and with a flat broad camel-hair 
brush (of the type already described) proceed 
to wash the print ; after a few moments we shall 
find that the spirit has dissolved part of the 
varnish and become soiled a deep yellow colour. 
The spirit should then be poured off and some 
fresh added, while we proceed as before. After 
several applications of fresh spirit, we shall find 
that the varnish has dissolved and left the print, 
and the paper has become stained with a dirty 
yellow stain. We now take the print from the 
bath and lay it on a piece of clean blotting-paper 
so as to absorb any superfluous methylated 
spirit and allow it to evaporate. While this is 
being done, we clean the dish thoroughly, after 
which we again lay the print in the dish and soak 
and rinse it very thoroughly with running water. 
At first the water will be repelled by what. 


36 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


remains of the spirit in the print, but after a 
time we shall find that the running water has 
cleared*the spirit. Our print is now ready 
for the bleaching process. ‘Then we decide as 
to our bleaching solution, and here arises one 
of the difficulties of print-cleaning. ‘There are 
many bleaching solutions in use; one called 
Eau de favelle, or Liquor Potassz Chlorinate, 
is made by dissolving one part of carbonate of 
potash in eight or ten parts of water, and 
passing chlorine gas through it till fully satur- 
ated. Another is called Labarrague’s Disinfect- 
ing Solution, or Liquor Sodz Chlorate, liquid 
chloride or hypochlorite of soda. It is made as 
follows :—Dissolve carbonate of soda, 12 ozs., 
in 36 ozs. of distilled water, and put the solu- 
tion into a glass vessel. Mix black oxide of 
manganese, 4 ozs., and hydrochloric acid, 15 
ozs., in a glass flask, with a bent tube attached 
by means of a cork to its mouth; apply a gentle 
heat, and with a suitable arrangement cause the 
gas evolved to pass first through a wash-bottle 
containing 4 ozs. of water, and then into the 
solution of carbonate of soda, regulating heat so 
that the gas shall be slowly but constantly intro- 
duced. When the disengagement of chlorine 
has ceased, transfer the solution which has 


ONSHIRE 


S OF DE\ 


CHES 


A DU 


GEORGIAN 


zt cleaned and restored 


ished p 


Specimen of a vari 


CLEANING VARNISHED PRINTS 37 


absorbed it to a stoppered bottle, and keep in a 
cool and dark place. 

I have given the mode of preparing the above 
solution, but unless one is used to chemical 
experiments, it is far preferable to obtain it 
from a chemist, and there is no difficulty in 
doing this, as the Liquor Sodz Chlorate is 
used in medicine as a disinfectant, commonly 
known as chloride of lime. It is also employed 
as an internal remedy, and for lotions. 

Perhaps the most common bleacher in use is 
chloride of lime, sold under the name of bleach- 
ing powder; some say it is troublesome and 
unsatisfactory to use, but from personal experi- 
ence I find much of a muchness with all bleach- 
ing agents. Some prefer one, some another ; 
care and experience are the main factors in 
obtaining successful results. But to get back 
to our print; having rinsed it thoroughly, we 
will use a solution of chloride of lime, taking a 
small quantity of this, rather weak to begin with, 
pour it over the part we wish to clean, and watch 
the result. The stains will gradually begin to 
go, and after about five minutes we shall find 
that they have become considerably lighter. 
We then pour off the solution and put on some 
fresh, and continue so doing till we think the 


38 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


print clean enough. While we are going 
through with this process, we should continually 
note and watch if the solution is taking any effect 
on, or lowering the colours of, the print. If 
they appear to be going, we should immediately 
stop the process by pouring off the solution and 
flooding the print with water. If the print has 
been entirely printed in colour, there is not 
much fear of the colour going, provided that 
great care is taken in the cleaning process and 
that too strong a solution is not used. It 
sometimes happens that colour prints (particu- 
larly sporting ones) are heightened by water- 
colours, and when this is the case, the colours 
are bound to lower and fade somewhat. It is, 
therefore, always a good plan to make notes of 
the colours before cleaning, so that when the 
print is finished, the colours can be retouched. 

Having satisfied ourselves that the print in 
the bath is clean enough, all that remains 
necessary is to rinse or wash it till every trace 
of the bleaching solution has left the print. This 
is best done by letting the water flow gently 
over it. We then place a piece of plate glass 
beneath the print and lifting it out of the bath, 
allow the water to drain off. Several sheets of 
clean blotting-paper are then spread over the 


CLEANING VARNISHED PRINTS 39 


print, and it is gently pressed on to the plate 
glass and placed where there is a current of air 
to dry it gradually. It will then be found to be 
perfectly clean and ready for sizing, which is 
necessary if there is any re-colouring or re- 
touching to be done. 

The best size for prints is made by cutting up 
into shreds a small piece of either parchment 
or vellum, and letting them simmer in water 
in an earthenware pot over a slow fire. A good 
plan is to fit a gallipot into an ordinary glue-pot 
in place of the receptacle for glue. If it is 
necessary to mount the print after cleaning, a 
good paste or mountant is made by putting a 
small quantity of fine white flour into a basin, 
and with a wooden spoon pressing it round the 
sides of the basin. Into the centre of the mass 
a sufficient quantity of water is poured, and 
the whole is stirred to the consistency of cream, 
and then brought to boiling point while being 
stirred over aclear fire. ‘The paste is then stood 
to cool, and if, while cooling, a few drops of oil 
of cloves are added and thoroughly stirred into 
the mass, it will keep indefinitely. 


CHAPTER V 
CLEANING AN UNVARNISHED PRINT 


N the last chapter cleaning a varnished print 

was described. In cleansing an unvarnished 
print, the process is similar in many respects. 
Let us take a print that has been unprotected by 
glass and hanging for years exposed to the 
atmosphere of a smoking room. On examina- 
tion, it will be found that the print has 
become almost black or a very dark brown, and 
is stained right through with fumes, especially 
if it has been strained on linen and mounted 
on a strainer. 

The first proceeding is to insert a sharp 
penknife between the linen and the strainer 
at one of the corners and carefully run the 
blade of the knife all round the margin of 
the strainer. Be particular not to injure the 
print by cutting the margin while separating 
it from the strainer. Having separated the linen 
from the strainer lay the print face downward 

40 


CLEANING AN UNVARNISHED PRINT 41 


on a sheet of thick plate glass in the bottom of a 
shallow tray or bath. A jugful of lukewarm 
water is then poured over the back of the print 
and allowed to soak just through the linen but 
not through the print. With the thumb and 
finger of the right hand, the corner of the linen 
at the bottom left-hand corner of the print is 
lifted. Holding the corner of the linen firmly 
between the thumb and finger we lay it back on 
the print and while pressing the corner of the 
print on to the plate glass, we gradually draw the 
linen from the print. If this operation is done 
carefully, it will be found that as a rule the 
linen peels off quite easily, leaving the paste 
on the back of the print. 

It is necessary and important, as I have said, 
to allow just sufficient time for the water to soak 
only through the linen, and not through the 
print. ‘The reason for this is that if the water 
soaks through the paste to the print, one is likely 
to bring part of the print away with the paste. 
It sometimes happens that the linen will not 
come away readily ; in such cases it is the better 
plan to give the print a prolonged soaking until 
the linen leaves the paper easily. Having got the 
linen off successfully, the bath is filled with cold 
water and the print allowed to soak all night. 


42 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


In the morning it will be found that the paste 
is quite soft and easily removed with a soft 
brush. At the same time much of the stain 
and dirt in the print will have come away in the 
water in which the print has laid. 

The print is then thoroughly rinsed and is 
ready for the bleaching liquor. The bath is then 
tilted and the bleaching solution poured in at 
one end and allowed to flow evenly all over the 
print; after rocking the bath gently backwards 
and forwards a few times it is allowed to rest 
for a few minutes, by which time the print will 
be nearly clean. ‘To make quite sure of this, 
drain the bleaching solution off and, lifting the 
plate glass, examine the front of the print. If 
the stains have not quite disappeared, immerse 
the print again in the bleaching solution for a 
short time, and if after this the stains still remain 
pour off the solution and use a fresh lot. 
Thorough rinsing is then given the print, as 
soon as the stains have gone, by frequently 
changing the water and emptying the bath 
entirely. A gentle stream of running water is 
then allowed to run over the back of the print 
till all traces of paste and lime have been re- 
moved. A good plan is to have a few feet of 
rubber piping connected with the water tap. 


CLEANING AN UNVARNISHED PRINT 43 


The pipe is put under the plate glass at the 
bottom of the bath, and the water then quickly 
clears the print of allimpurities. It is a mistake 
to suppose that the quicker the water flows the 
quicker the print is rinsed. On the contrary, 
a steady, slowly flowing stream is best. All the 
applications of water should be gentle, and it is 
a good method to tie a canvas bag filled with 
cotton wool over the mouth of the india rubber 
piping to safeguard any rush of water; in 
addition to this the canvas bag will filter out 
any foreign substance which may get into the 
water at times when the mains are being 
repaired. 

The print being thoroughly rinsed at the back, 
a sheet of clean paper is laid over it to enable it 
to be lifted with safety from the plate glass. 
The paper, with the print face upwards, is then 
laid on the plate glass again in the bath and the 
rinsing finished. After this has been done, the 
glass with the paper and print upon it is lifted 
from the bath and stood to drain and dry. If 
all the various operations are carried out care- 
fully, the print will when dry look bright and as 
good as the day it was printed. No after treat- 
ment will be necessary ; in fact, the need of any 
after treatment is as a rule proof that some part 


44 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


of the process of cleaning has not been done 
carefully, or that the chemicals used were 
either not pure or improperly prepared. Practi- 
cally speaking, all tap water contains some im- 
purities. It is therefore of importance in making 
bleaching solutions to use the purest chemicals 
and distilled water. 

As the process of distilling water on a small 
scale is tedious, it is best to get a gallon or two 
at the chemist’s, for the cost is very trifling. 
It is advisable, too, to use pure chloride of lime. 
This, when good, is a perfectly dry white 
powder, with a faint smell of chlorine gas. If 
kept in a damp place it absorbs moisture, feels 
clammy to the touch, and smells more strongly, 
becoming at the same time rapidly deteriorated. 
It should, when fresh, contain on an average 
35 per cent. of available chlorine. If badly 
made, or kept too long, it frequently falls far 
below this standard. The value of a sample 
can only be satisfactorily judged by chemical 
analysis, so-called “practical” tests being 
fallacious. 

Now as to a question that has often been put 
me, ‘‘ What should be the percentage of chlorine 
in a bleaching solution, and how is one to know 
its strength?’ The following method may be 


CLEANING AN UNVARNISHED PRINT 45 


used :—A standard test-liquor is prepared by 
dissolving 100 grains of pure arsenious acid 
at a very gentle heat, in pure hydrochloric acid. 
When dissolved, distilled water is added, so as 
to make up a volume of 10 fluid ounces. Each 
ounce represents, of course, Io grains of 
arsenious acid. 

To test a sample of bleaching powder, 100 
grains are fairly taken and rubbed well up in a 
porcelain mortar with a little distilled water. 
It is gradually rinsed into a measuring glass, 
and sufficient water added to make up 2,000 
grain measures. ‘I'he mixture is well stirred up 
and a burette, i.e. a graduated glass tube with a 
small aperture and stop-cock for delivering 
measured quantities of liquid, filled therewith. 
Each degree of the burette contains, of course, 
one-half grain of bleaching powder. A fluid 
ounce of the arsenic solution is now put into a 
beaker glass, and coloured distinctly, but not 
strongly blue, with a little sulphate of indigo. 
The solution of bleaching powder is now gradu- 
ally and carefully dropped into the arsenic 
liquor, with constant stirring, till the blue colour 
disappears. ‘The number of degrees required 
for this purpose represents exactly 7-17 of avail- 
able chlorine, and as each degree contains one- 


46 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


half grain of bleaching powder, the amount of 
chlorine in 100 grains is readily calculated. 
Thus, suppose 20 degrees of the burette have 
been consumed, then 20: 100 = 7:17: 35°85, 
the percentage of available chlorine contained in 
the sample under examination. 


While on the question of chemicals, I might 
add a few words concerning acetic acid. ‘This 
acid is prepared for manufacturing purposes by 
submitting wood to destructive distillation, 
whence its other names of pyroligneous acid, 
wood vinegar, etc. A clever amateur restorer, 
writing to tell me of three prints he had cleaned, 
‘““in the same bath at the same time,” says he 
found that two of the prints dried in splendid 
surface, while the other was seriously marred by 
a floury deposit. While giving acetic acid as a 
remedy for the evil, my correspondent says that 
a jug of water poured over the surface of the 
print completed the operation. He then adds, 
‘“ As the acid passes over the affected print a 
‘ sissing ’ and ‘ fizzling’ occurs; this is merely 
the action of the acid driving the lime out of 
the print.” 3 

A word or two of caution is necessary here. 
In the first place it is not wise to have more than 


CLEANING AN UNVARNISHED PRINT 47 


one print in the bath at a time; the “ floury 
deposit ”’ shows that the bleaching solution was 
not properly prepared by the fact of the lime 
being precipitated on the print. The effer- 
vescence is the disengagement of gases caused 
by the precipitate of the lime uniting with the 
acetic acid. It is therefore absolutely neces- 
sary to give the print more than a mere jugful 
of water; indeed it should be rinsed very 
thoroughly in order that every trace of lime and 
acetic acid be removed. If this is not done, 
the print is likely to lose its texture and eventually 
gorotten. Should the “ floury deposit ”’ appear 
on an India print, an application of acid would 
probably bring the India paper away from its 
mount. So, too, with certain kinds of Japanese 
paper; the textures would be destroyed. 

Like others, my correspondent assigns the 
superiority to ‘“‘ liquor sodz chlorate” as a 
bleacher, but, after all, there is not much differ- 
ence “ ’twixt tweedledum and tweedledee,”’ for 
liquor sodz chlorate is merely a solution of 
chloride of lime and carbonate of soda (wide 
Chapter IV). | 


CHAPTER VI 
CLEANING WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS 


HE cleaning and restoration of water- 

colour drawings is beset with difficulties, 
so much so that to those about to undertake it 
one might offer ‘“‘ Punch’s ”’ advice to those about 
to marry. I will, however, give a few notes 
as to the process. 

The mode of procedure is much the same as 
for coloured prints in so far as preliminaries 
are concerned ; that is to say,-all surface dirt 
and dust should be removed with a piece of 
new bread or dough. Some recommend bottle - 
india rubber; but either bread or dough is 
preferable, because the friction caused by pass- 
ing the rubber over the surface of the paper is 
apt to leave a slight trace or smudge thereon, 
and is liable to make the particular part of the 
paper where it occurs slightly water-proof and 
impervious to the action of the water we are 
about to use on it. B the water-colour is 

4 


CLEANING WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS 49 


mounted, the first thing to do is to get the 
drawing off the mount. If on a thick card- 
board, get a thin paper-knife and work it gently 
between some of the layers of the cardboard, 
gradually reducing the thickness of the mount, 
till it is of only one or two layers, or sheets, 
as they are called. When this is accomplished, 
if the drawing has been mounted with any of 
the numerous pastes, turn it face downwards 
on a clean sheet of white blotting-paper, and 
thoroughly damp the back of the cardboard 
with a sponge; the object of this is to get the 
water to penetrate the mount somewhat without 
getting the face of the drawing wet. Next lay 
the drawing face upwards on a piece of thick 
plate glass, and place it in the bath, with just 
sufficient water to soak through the cardboard 
without wetting the face of the drawing. 
Should, however, the face of the drawing get 
wet in this early stage of operations, either 
soak up the water with a piece of clean blotting- 
paper or gently flood the drawing with water 
and lift it out of the bath on the plate glass to 
drain off nearly dry. After this, immerse the 
back of the mount again in the bath till the 
paste yields. In no case force, hasten, or try 


to pull the drawing off before the mount is 
E 


50 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


soaked sufficiently. If at all stubborn, holding 
the mount against the jet of steam issuing from 
a kettle of boiling water will sometimes soften 
the paste and hasten matters. 

When the drawing has been got off the 
mount, lay it again on a sheet of clean blotting- 
paper, face downwards, and with a sponge 
remove all traces of paste, gum, or whatever 
mountant has been used. The drawing is now 
ready for the bath, and should be put in face 
downwards on the plate glass, pressing it into 
contact with the glass by the aid of the blotting- 
paper. Then the drawing is gently flooded 
with running water by a piece of india rubber 
tubing connected with the tap. After a short 
time stains and spots will gradually vanish ; 
this can be seen by taking the water-colour out 
of the bath and looking at it through the plate 
glass. 

More often than not, the stains, spots, or 
blemishes proceed either from impurities in 
the cardboard or the paste. When these have 
been removed the stains go with them while 
washing the back of the drawing with running 
water. The drawing should then be lifted 
from the bath, transferred to a clean sheet of 
white blotting-paper, and allowed to dry quickly 


CLEANING WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS 51 


by laying it near a draught of air; it will then 
be seen if any spots or stains are left. If any 
remain, the drawing should be again flooded 
with water as above mentioned, and while it is 
thoroughly damp the spots should be touched 
with a brush full of one or the other bleaching 
solutions mentioned in a previous chapter. If 
it is a case of ink stain or rust, a saturated solu- 
tion of oxalic acid may be used; but with your 
brush only touch the parts stained, and remember 
that oxalic acid is very powerful and poisonous, 
and should be used with great care and caution 
if used at all. Directly it is seen that the 
stains are disappearing, do not wait until they 
are quite bleached out, but flush and gently 
rinse the drawing till all trace of the acid is 
gone, which you can easily see by dipping a 
small piece of litmus paper in the water. If 
the drawing has been carefully washed, it will 
be found on drying that all traces of stains have 
disappeared, except, perhaps, that the parts 
which were spotted are lighter in tone than 
the surrounding parts, and may need retouching 
with colour, or what is termed stippling in. 
Upon this process depends much of the success of 
the restoration by painstaking endeavour to 
adjust and restore, so far as possible, any 


52 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


missing parts with the touch of the original 
artist. I fear some restorers regard these 
things as subordinate to the primary necessity 
of “ getting the job done.” The mechanical 
nature of restoration work is tiresome, but one 
must discipline oneself into a uniformity of 
routine. Endless stippling may be a regrettable 
necessity, but it is a necessity because essential 
to success. 

As I have said, much of the success of 
restoration depends on stippling. In executing 
this process, delicacy of touch is required, and 
one must proceed with the greatest care, with- 
out growing impatient of the slowness of the 
process, for it will be easier to repeat touches, 
however frequent, than to remove the effects 
of too hasty work. To acquire a correct 
method of stippling or spotting, there is no 
better guide than the study of good stipple 
engravings. ‘The same advantage may be gained 
for the process of hatching by studying good 
line engravings; the difference being that 
instead of spots in the former, in the latter 
fine lines are used. 

Take care not to place the lines or spots too 
closely together, but equally apart, repeating 
the process and filling in any irregularity of 


CLEANING WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS 53 


touch as may be necessary; moreover every 
touch must become perfectly dry before it will 
bear strengthening by repetition. These re- 
touchings should be applied with a skilful 
delicate touch, or a coarse patchy effect will 
result. In no other way than by this process, 
when well executed, can the missing parts of 
a water-colour be made good. Should any 
part of the hatching appear too prominent it 
may be softened down with a clean brush 
dipped in water and wiped out nearly dry on a 
pad of blotting-paper, and the part touched 
down to the modified tone needed; for in all 
stippling or hatching, the brush should be 
nearly dry of colour. If the strokes, spots, or 
dots are put on with too full a brush they will 
dry with a hard and very unsightly edge. 
As the brilliancy and delicacy of a water- 
colour more or less depends on the clearness, 
transparency, and purity of the colours, to this 
end it is advisable to have a simple palette of 
reliable colours in tubes. The cake colours 
made by the good old-fashioned firms are, 
I think, preferable to colours in tubes; and 
for this reason, that capsules of colour either 
dry up or get what is termed livery, whereas 
the cake colours last a lifetime. It is quite 


54 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


unnecessary to get half the colours usually 
recommended; indeed, the fewer and purer 
the colours used, the more brilliant as a rule 
will be the result. 


The following may be mentioned as sufficient 
for all practical purposes. They have the 
charm of working well, are for the most part 
reliable, and moreover possess the inestimable 
advantages of mixing thoroughly the one with 
the other. Ivory-black is the richest and most 
transparent of all the blacks, and is perfectly 
durable. As, chemically speaking, ivory-black 
is an animal charcoal, it is better not to bring 
it in contact with vegetable or mineral pig- 
ments. I might here mention, as a general 
rule, that all water-colours should be kept as 
pure and transparent as possible; brushes 
should be washed out until they are scrupulously 
clean. before mixing any tints; let all colours 
be laid on as clearly as possible, and in washes 
of colour, should it be necessary to go over 
the ground again, avoid doing so till the first 
wash be perfectly dry. 

In mixing colours or tints blue-black and 
lamp-black should be used, instead of ivory- 
black. Lamp-black is not quite so intense and 


FRANCIS 7TH EARL OF NEWBURGH 


Specimen of a black lead pencil drawing cleaned and restored 


CLEANING WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS 55 


transparent as ivory-black. It covers readily 
every underlay of colour, and works well; but 
being a dense solid pigment, it should be used 
sparingly to avoid heaviness. Blue-black is of 
weaker body than ivory-black or lamp-black, 
-and consequently better suited for many pur- 
poses, especially in landscapes, where a black 
and sooty effect is to be avoided. Black lead 
or plumbago, which has only in recent years 
been employed as a pigment in water-colours, 
and may be effectively used in retouching 
pencil drawings, has no action on any colour, 
and is very endurable. As browns are very 
numerous, and are almost without exception of 
great durability, one can select according to 
taste. Brown madder, however, affords the 
richest description of shadows, and is especially 
indispensable. It is, like all the madder pig- 
ments, very permanent, dries well, and works 
very pleasantly. Burnt umber, a quiet brown, 
works and washes well, and is perfectly stable. 
Bistre, a very powerful citrine brown, is useful 
for architectural subjects. It is perfectly dur- 
able, but has a tendency to condense the 
moisture of the atmosphere. It does not wash 
well—that is to say, succeeding washes disturb 
each other. Olive green, sometimes called 


56 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


Dewint’s green, is fairly safe, but, generally 
speaking, is more beautiful than durable, and 
turns brown in a moist atmosphere. Cobalt 
blue, though not possessing the body, depth, 
and transparency of ultramarine, works better. 
It resists the action of light, but its beauty 
deteriorates by time, and is ultimately blackened 
by impure air. Cobalt does not injure or 
suffer injury from other pigments. ‘Terre verte, 
or green earth, is a very useful bluish green, 
not bright or powerful, but very durable, being 
unaffected by strong light or impure air, and 
combines safely with other colours. Raw 
Sienna has more body and transparency than 
the ochres, and is not liable to change by the 
action of either light, time, or impure air. 
Oxide of chromium affords a sober sage green ; 
mixed with white, it yields very delicate and 
pleasing tints. Being deep-toned, it must be 
employed with care to avoid heaviness, and it 
does not wash very well. French blue, or 
French ultramarine, is a safe and generally 
useful colour. Naples yellow possesses the 
advantages of being perfectly durable and 
trustworthy. What is now sold as Naples 
yellow is a compound pigment, and may be 
accurately imitated by mixing deep. cadmium 


CLEANING WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS 57 


yellow with white. Ultramarine ash works 
and washes much better than genuine ultra- 
marine and gives very delicate tints. 

As a variety of colours is more a matter of 
choice than of necessity, the above list can be 
added to, but in doing so it should be borne 
in mind that the following colours cannot be 
relied upon to withstand daylight for any 
length of time, either used alone or in mix- 
ture, Prussian blue, indigo, gamboge, brown 
pink, bistre, purple madder, carmine, crimson, 
olive lake, and scarlet lake. Antwerp blue is 
paler and less permanent than Prussian. King’s 
yellow, or orpiment, a bright yellow, zs not 
durable and, moreover, is a very deadly potson. 
Pure scarlet is of all pigments the most dazzling 
and fugitive. As a landscape colour it is of no 
use, although for some flowers nothing can 
approach it; but its beauty is almost as elusive 
as the scarlet pimpernel, and should have no 
place on the palette. 

In oil-colours vermilion should not be 
mixed with white lead on account of the 
sulphur which it contains. 


CHAPTER VII 
COLOURS AND HOW TO BLEND THEM 


HERE are but three primitive colours—that 

is three colours only which cannot be com- 
pounded of other colours; namely, red, blue 
and yellow. With these three colours every 
tint and shade in nature (except white) may be 
imitated. With red, blue and yellow, the 
painter can, on a white ground, represent the 
bloom of health, and the pallor of disease; 
the verdure and flowers of spring, and the 
barren landscape of December, when 

‘“‘ The cherished fields 

Put on their winter robe of purest white.” 

It was formerly supposed that there were 
seven primitive colours, but Sir David Brewster 
has proved with regard to the colours of the 
prism, that three of the other colours are formed 
by the over-lapping of the three primitives, 


and the seventh by the mixture of darkness or 
58 | 


COLOURS AND HOW TO BLEND THEM 59 


shade with the blue. In this manner the over- 
lapping or blending of the red ray with the 
yellow produces orange, the over-lapping of 
the yellow ray with the blue produces green, 
and the over-lapping of the blue ray with the 
red ray produces violet or purple. ‘This may 


Orange 
Red. -Yellow 
‘Violet a G een. 


Fic. I. 


perhaps be rendered clear by the agra, 
(Fig. 1.) - 

Let the Per itorerice of the circle be divided 
into six equal parts, and marked a, b,c, d, e, f. 
Let the spaces a, b, c, be coloured yellow, 
c, d, e, blue, and e, f, a, red. It will then be 
seen that the space a is coloured orange by the 
over-lapping of the red and yellow, the space c 


60 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


is coloured green by the over-lapping of the 
yellow and blue, and the space e is coloured 
violet or purple by the over-lapping of blue 
and red. ‘These three colours, orange, green, 
and violet or purple, are called secondary colours, 
because they are each composed of two 
primitives. 

On looking again at the diagram, it will be 
seen that the space opposite to each of the 
primitives is filled by one of the secondaries 
composed of the other two primitives; red, 
for instance, is found to be exactly opposite to 
green, which is composed of blue and yellow ; 
yellow is opposite to violet, which is composed 
of red and blue; and blue is opposite to orange, 
which is composed of red and yellow. 

It appears to be a law in the science of the 
harmonious contrast of colours, that when the 
attention of the eye has been directed stead- 
fastly upon a colour (either primitive or secon- 
dary) there is a tendency in the organ to see the 
colour which in the diagram is directly opposite 
to it, whether it is actually present or not. If, 
for instance, a red disk is placed on a sheet of 
white paper, and the eyes are steadily fixed 
on it for some time, the red disk will appear to 
be surrounded by a narrow and very pale circle 


COLOURS AND HOW TO BLEND THEM 61 


of green, or if the eyes, after looking attentively 
at a red disk, be directed to another part of the 
paper, and the disk withdrawn, a pale green 
image of the disk will be perceived. Green, 
therefore, is said to be the complementary 
colour to red, because the eye, after looking 
fixedly at the red (one of the primitive colours), 
sees an image or spectrum composed of the 
other two primitive colours which together 
make green. In like manner the spectrum 
produced by blue is orange, and by yellow is 
purple. Nor is this phenomenon limited to 
the primitive colours only, it takes place also 
with regard to the secondaries, and even to 
what are called the broken colours; thus red is 
complementary to green, yellow to purple, 
and blue to orange. This will be understood 
by reference to the diagram. The colours 
thus opposed to each other are called comple- 
mental or complementary, and sometimes com- 
pensating colours. In every case, these are the 
most beautiful and harmonious contrasts of 
colours. 

It will readily be understood that the grada- 
tions of colour between each of the primitives 
may be very numerous, by the mixture of more ~ 
or less of the neighbouring colours. The 


62 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


gradations are, in fact, so numerous, that it 
is impossible to name them all. Pure yellow, 
for instance, inclines neither to red nor blue, 
but if a small portion of red be added to the 
yellow, we call it orange-yellow; if a little 


Fic. 2. 


blue be added to the yellow, we call it greenish- 
yellow ; if a little more blue, it will pass into 
yellow-green; thence to pure green; then to 
blue green; then greenish blue to which 
succeeds pure blue, and so on. The colour 
which contrasts precisely with any one of these 


COLOURS AND HOW TO BLEND THEM 63 


colours will be found exactly opposite to it 
in the circle (Fig. 2). If for example, it is 
required to find the complementary colour 
of orange-yellow (g) we shall find opposite to 
it blue-purple (/); in the same manner we see 
that yellow-green (k) is the complementary of 
purple-red (/), and red-orange (m) of blue- 
green (vz). By this arrangement an_ exact 
balance of the three primitives is preserved in 
all the contrasts, and the result is perfectly 
harmonious. 

From the mixture in unequal proportions 
of the three primitives, or of the secondaries 
with each other, or with the primitives, other 
colours are formed which are variously termed 
tertiaries, quartiaries, and semi-neutrals, and to 
which various specific names are given; such 
as citrine, which may be composed of orange 
and green ; olive, composed of purple and green; 
and russet, composed of orange and purple. 
To these may be added brown, slate, marrone, 
straw-colour, salmon-colour, and others of a 
similar nature, which from the fact that all three 
of the primitives enter into their composition, 
may be denominated broken colours. 

Harmony of colour is of several kinds; it 
will be sufficient for our present purpose to 


64 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


allude to two kinds only, namely, harmony of 
analogy and harmony of contrast. ‘The term 
harmony of analogy is applied to that arrange- 
ment in which the colours succeed each other 
in the order in which they occur in the prism, 
and the eye is led in progressive steps, as it 
were, through three or more distinct colours, 
from yellow, through orange, to scarlet and 
deep red, or from yellow, through green to 
blue, dark blue and black, or vice versa. ‘The 
same term is also applied to the succession of 
three or more different tints or shades of the 
same colour. The harmony of contrast is 
applied to combinations of two or more colours, 
which are contrasted with each other, according 
to the laws of which we have spoken. In the 
first kind of harmony the effects are softer 
and more mellow, in the second more bold and 
striking. 

Nature affords us examples of both kinds of 
harmony, but those of the harmony of analogy 
are most abundant. Of the more brilliant 
examples of the last kind of harmony is the 
beautiful succession of colours in the clouds at 
sunset or sunrise. Of a more sober kind is 
that which prevails in landscapes, where the 
blue colour of the hills in the distance changes 


COLOURS AND HOW TO BLEND THEM 65 


as it advances towards the foreground through 
olive and every variety of cool and warm green 
to the sandy bank glowing with yellow, orange, 
or red ochreous hues at our feet. In both 
cases force, animation, and variety are given 
by the occasional introduction of contrasts of 
colours. In the sky the golden colour is con- 
trasted with purple; the glowing red, or rose 
colour, with pale green; the blue sky of the 
zenith and eastern hemisphere contrasts with 
the orange-coloured clouds which are floating 
before it, with the peaks of snowy mountains, 
or the lofty towers of a cathedral standing out 
boldly against the clear blue sky, and reflecting 
on the sunlit crags or pinnacles the golden 
splendour of the western hemisphere. On the 
earth the broken and variegated green and russet 
tints of the trees and herbage are vivified and 
brought to a focus, sometimes by the bright 
red garments of a traveller, sometimes by flowers 
of the same colour scattered over the foreground. 

For the sake of giving a more marked char- 
acter to experiments on colour, they are generally 
conducted with primitives and secondaries, 
which in their pure state are called positive 
colours. 


Of the three primitive colours, yellow is the 
F 


66 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


lightest, red the most positive, and blue the 
coldest. Red and yellow, from their connection 
with light and heat, are considered as warm 
colours; blue, from its association with the 
colour of the sky and distant objects, is said to 
be a cool colour. Of the secondaries orange 
is the warmest, green the medium, and violet 
the coldest. The warm colours are also con- 
sidered as advancing colours because they 
appear to approach the eye, the cool colours 
are also called retiring colours from their 
appearing to recede from the eye. The con- 
trast of green and red is the medium, and the 
extreme contrast of hot and cold colours consists 
of blue, the coldest, with orange, the warmest 
of all colours. 

Neither black nor white is considered as a 
colour; black may be formed by the mixture 
of the three primitives; grey consists of an 
equal portion of black and white. When 
black is placed in contact with any colour it 
ceases to be neutral, and acquires by contrast 
a tinge of the compensating colour; if, for 
example, a piece of green silk 1s covered with 
black lace, the black assumes by contrast 
a reddish tint, which makes it appear rusty ; 
for this reason the mixture of black and green 


COLOURS AND HOW TO BLEND THEM 67 


is not pleasing. In the same manner small 
portions of white assume the complementary 
colour of that to which they are opposed, but 
the general effect of a large mass of white is 
to make colours appear more vivid and forcible. 

A knowledge of the fundamental principles 
of the harmony and contrast of colours is of 
great use and helpful in many ways, and if any 
readers wish further information concerning 
the more extensive relations and philosophy of 
colours, etc., they are referred to the very 
excellent and valuable works on colours by 
M. Chevreul, George Field, the Baron Frédéric 
Portal and Mrs. Merrifield. 


CHAPTER VIII 
MOUNTS AND MOUNTING 


iA after either cleaning or restoration of a 
print or water-colour a mount of some 
kind is generally necessary, a few words on 
mounts in general may be useful. A liberal 
mount sometimes sets off a picture, but in 
looking at the vast mounts that some artists 
give to their water-colours, one is reminded of 
Tom Hood’s dying joke when watching his 
wife preparing a mustard poultice for his 
emaciated chest; the prince of punsters said, 
“Isn't that a lot of mustard for so little 
meat ?”’ 

Water-colours, when soft and delicate, may 
be given a liberal amount of margin. The 
same rule applies to photographs. ‘Those which 
are large, strong, and decided in character 
should be framed close up, whilst those which 
are smaller and more delicate in style are im- 
proved by a margin. Gold mounts are the 


best possible for water-colours. If real English 


gold is considered too expensive, then a plain 
68 


MOUNTS AND MOUNTING 69 


white surface is preferable to any Dutch metal 
or bronze mount. 

When mounting water-colours it is not 
advisable to paste the backs entirely. The 
better plan is to damp the back and then run 
the paste brush all round the edges for about 
halfaninch. The water-colour is then laid upon 
the mount and covered with sheets of clean 
blotting-paper, which should be occasionally 
changed while the water-colour is drying under 
the pressure of a sheet of plate glass or drawing- 
board. 

In mounting prints or engravings a thick 
plate paper is preferable to cardboard, and 
failing this, a sheet of the heaviest Whatman 
or some other good make of drawing paper. 
When the amount of margin to be given is 
decided upon, the plate paper is laid on the 
plate glass and the print is put in position, the 
two top corners slightly marked with pencil on 
the plate paper. Both print and plate paper 
are then thoroughly damped with a wet sponge 
or soft camel-hair brush, so that they may 
stretch out. The print is then turned face 
downwards on another sheet of blotting-paper 
and thoroughly pasted once or twice with a 
good paste, allowing a few moments to elapse 
between the first and second pasting, and the 


70 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


print will then be ready for its mount. First 
of all see that your hands are free from paste 
or dirt by rinsing them in water and drying 
them with a Turkish bath towel. Then taking 
hold of the print by the two bottom corners, 
gently lift it and holding it well above the plate 
paper, gradually lower the print till the two 
top corners touch the plate paper at the pencil 
marks. When this has been done, carefully 
lower the print so that it gradually lays flat 
on the plate paper mount without a crease. 
Next take some clean sheets of white blotting- 
paper, and laying them over the print, press it 
into perfect contact with the plate paper 
mount. ‘This is best done by laying a sheet 
of cardboard over the blotting-paper and smooth- 
ing over the whole surface with the hands. 
After a few moments remove the blotting-paper, 
which will have absorbed some of the damp 
from the print and its mount. - Replace the: 
blotting-paper with fresh, dry sheets, and then 
lay the sheet of cardboard over the blotting- 
paper, with a drawing-board over the whole, 
and some weights on top to act as a press. 
In about an hour the pressure is taken off, and 
the blotting-paper removed, the Gs being 
ready for drying off. 

For colour prints that have beer cut close 


MOUNTS AND MOUNTING 71 


or have no margin, either a cut-out Whatman 
or cream-tinted mount may be laid over them. 
By using two large angle pieces L 1 of white 
or cream-tinted cardboard, the effect of the 
margin can always be seen. ‘These angle pieces 
are also very useful in photography to decide 
how much of a photograph should be shown, 
for it often happens that photographic views 
show either too much foreground or too much 
sky, or it may be that the composition would 
be improved by eliminating something from 
either side; by laying these angle pieces on the 
photograph and manipulating them by sliding 
them one over the other, the best ‘‘ bits’ of a 
picture are soon found and the suitable opening 
for a cut-out mount shown. 

Before I quit this subject, it will not be 
amiss to add a list of the usual sizes of 
drawing papers, etc., used for mounting and 
cut-out mounts. 


Inches. 
Re ee a FO 8 
TS re yer oy 
Double Elephant . . . . . . 40—263 
ee ae pe B4e— 26 
OP kg ep BARRIS 
Imperial. .. . We oe ee ee er 


Meee yOWn =. wk 8 30-20 


72 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


Inches. 
Elephant . 200). 0.0) 6)) 
Super Royal’ .). 10h). 2 
Royal i 
Medium... 2. 
Demy. 00 86 00 Oy 
Large Post...) 2.6. 
Post.c o  K 
Foolscap)... 02. 


As regards oil paintings. The mounting of 
these really comes under the head of relining, 
and is best given to a professional reliner to do. 
Still, however, as small rapid sketches in oil 
are sometimes made on prepared oil sketching 
paper, it may be necessary to mount these on 
a small panel. This may be done by giving 
the panel a coat of hot glue. When the glue 
has cooled, the sketch should be laid upon the 
glue. And after rubbing a little olive oil over 
the painting, it is covered with a thin piece of 
white paper and a warm flatiron passed gently 
backwards and forwards over the painting. 
The paper is then removed and the oil wiped 
off with a piece of wadding. A fresh piece of 
paper should then be laid on the panel and a 
weight put on top in order that the panel 
may not warp but dry flat. 


CHAPTER IX 
ACIDS USED IN RESTORATION 


AVING seen it stated that “‘ it is a defect 

in technical books on picture restoration 
and print cleaning that such volumes rarely or 
never give the antidote to common disorders 
liable to trade processes even in the workshop 
of the practical picture and print restorer,” I 
purpose in this chapter to give some effective 
antidotes to the banes of picture and print 
restorers, together with the methods of use 
and value of certain chemicals of consider- 
able importance from an artistic point of view. 
In describing them more or less in detail, I 
will endeavour to give their practical applica- 
tion without confusing my readers by going too 
much into technicalities, more especially as 
some correspondents from time to time have 
given me formule and recipes of chemicals 
used in art as they say “‘ without entering upon 
the chemical’reason for the difference in results.”’ 

73 


74 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


It may be instructive and useful to give a short 
description of some of the properties and 
qualities of these chemicals. Besides, it is as 
well to know the danger attached to handling in 
ignorance chemicals which are in everyday use. 

In Chapter VI and throughout this work I 
have condemned the use of any colours or 
substances which contain poison, and it cannot 
be too strongly impressed on the mind of any 
who use them that mineral poisons of every 
description are as effectually taken into the 
system of the body by handling them or in- 
haling their fumes as by actually swallowing 
them; and that the consequences, though not © 
so immediately fatal, are as certainly injurious. 
Oil of turpentine, and some other substances 
used in painting and restoring, give out fumes 
which, though not of a poisonous nature, are 
apt to occasion a slight feeling of nausea. To 
remedy this, tobacco in any form is the most 
powerful check to a substance acting to produce 
spasms by suspending the muscular action in 
the stomach. . 

For instance, a few drops of muriatic acid, 
diluted with a wineglassful of sugared water 
would be harmless, but szxty drops taken 
neat would be a fatal dose, although death 


ACIDS USED IN RESTORATION 75 


might be delayed for some weeks. Again, it 
is positively dangerous to use this acid in a 
room in combination with chloride of lime, 
owing to the fumes given off while the “ siz- 
zing,’ and “ fizzing”’ or effervescence (see 
Chapter V) is taking place. It is not only 
destructive to human but fatal even to plant 
life. 

This fact was brought home most unpleasantly 
to a friend of mine who had a very large green- 
house containing a collection of rare ferns and 
a climbing rose tree which became infested with 
aphis (green fly). One evening he thought he 
would kill the green flies by fumigating them 
with a small jar of chloride of lime in which 
he had put some muriatic acid. After watering 
the ferns he put the jar in the centre of the 
greenhouse and carefully closed the place for 
the night. The next morning the green flies 
were dead and so was every plant in the green- 
house. The “ sizzing’” and “ fizzing”’ had 
done its work very thoroughly. ‘Therefore, of 
this noxious acid one should say as Falstaff 
said of honour and Macbeth of physic, “ I'll 
none of it.”’ 

As I have said before, I do not recommend 
re-agents, and there is no need for them if 


76 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


the various bleaching solutions are made up 
properly and purely in the first instance by a 
chemist. 

If this and other noxious acids must be used, 
care should be taken to use them only in the 
open air, and on no account should the bottles 
containing them be left about. Nitric acid, 
or aquafortis, is another dangerous acid, 
although one of the most useful with which 
the chemist is acquainted. It is strongly acid 
and highly corrosive, and is much employed 
in the arts for etching copper plates for engrav- 
ing, and combined with muriatic acid it forms 
aqua regia (nitro muriatic acid), used as a 
solvent for gold, platina, etc. 

The acids are a numerous and important 
class of chemical bodies. ‘They are generally 
sour; usually, but not always, they have a 
great affinity for water, and are readily soluble 
in it; they change most vegetable blue colours 
to red, and they unite readily with most alkalies, 
and with earthy and metallic oxides. ‘Some are 
natural, some artificial, and some both; some 
are gaseous, some liquid, and some solid, at 
common temperatures ; some are transparent, 
and others coloured; some inodorous, and 
others pungent; some volatile, and others 


ACIDS USED IN RESTORATION 77 


fixed; so that they vary greatly, except in the 
qualities first named. No simple or elementary 
substance has the properties of an acid, and 
consequently all acids are compounds of two 
or more of them. In almost every case one of 
these elements is either oxygen or hydrogen, 
producing the oxacids and the hydracids, the 
former of which are by far the most numerous. 
In some instances oxygen gives rise to different 
acids by combining with the same element in 
various proportions. 

Acids occur‘in all the kingdoms of nature ; 
the phosphoric acids which exist in bone are 
of animal origin; the citric and the oxalic acids 
are products of vegetation; the chromic and 
arsenic acids enter into the composition of 
certain minerals ; and many of the acids which 
are derivable from two or more of these sources 
are produced by chemical agency. 

The acids which are of any importance in 
art are as follow :— 

Oxalic acid. This is one of the powerful 
and poisonous acids. It is found, combined 
chiefly with potash, in the juices of plants of 
the genera Oxalis and Rumex, whence it has 
been termed salt of sorrel. It is usually pre- 
pared by the action of nitric acid upon sugar, 


78 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


evaporating the solution, after the action has 
ceased, to the consistence of a syrup, and 
re-dissolving and re-crystallising the crystals 
which are thus procured. It forms colourless 
transparent prismatic crystals, which are in- 
odorous, intensely and unpleasantly sour, and 
do not grow moist on exposure. If they 
become damp, some nitric or sulphuric acid 
used in their preparation has not been thor- 
oughly removed. In its external appearance, 
oxalic acid bears a strong similarity to Epsom 
salts (sulphate of magnesia), for which unfor-- 
tunately it has been frequently mistaken. It is 
instantly distinguished from Epsom salts by 
placing a small crystal upon the tongue; when 
its strong acid taste, compared with the nauseous 
bitter of the sulphate of magnesia, will be 
quite a sufficient test. Oxalic acid is soluble 
in its own weight of boiling water, but requires 
eight times its weight of water at 60° Fahrenheit. 

It is useful in removing ink stains, iron 
moulds, etc., from linen, leather, and paper, 
but should not be employed too strong; the 
best proportions for these purposes are I ounce 
of the acid to a pint of water. The most 
delicate test of the presence of oxalic acid is a 
salt of lime or lime water, with either of which 


ACIDS USED IN RESTORATION 79 


it forms a white precipitate, insoluble in water, 
but soluble in acids. 

Sulphurous acid is formed whenever brim- 
stone is burnt in atmospheric air; it is a 
suffocating and pungent gas, and dissolves to 
a considerable extent in water. Sulphurous 
acid, if exposed to air and moisture, gradually 
takes up an additional equivalent of oxygen, 
and is converted into sulphuric acid. 

Sulphurous acid bleaches vegetable colours 
with great rapidity, and is therefore employed 
in bleaching wool and silk. The coiours thus 
bleached are not, however, entirely destroyed, 
as in bleaching with chloride of lime, but merely 
masked, and can be made to reappear by means 
of alkalies, sulphuric acid, etc. 

Tartaric acid is used for the same purposes 
as citric acid and is much employed in the 
arts. Although it exists in many kinds of 
fruit, it is chiefly obtained from the juice 
of grapes. It is procured from the cream of 
tartar (bitartrate of potash) by purifying the 
crust which separates during the fermentation 
of wines by solution and crystallisation. In a 
pure state tartaric acid forms large colourless 
crystals which dissolve readily in water. It is 
frequently sold in a fine white powder to 


80 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


conceal impurities. The chief adulteration met 
with is by means of bisulphate of potash. 

To prevent any organic matter, such as paste, 
from undergoing fermentation and putrefac- 
tion, carbolic acid is the most powerful agent. 
It is a colourless oily liquid, having no action 
on litmus paper. ‘To many people the smell 
of this acid is unbearable; when such is the 
case, oil of cloves may be substituted, this 
being equally useful as a preservative for paste. 

Citric acid exists in numerous fruits, par- 
ticularly those of the orange kind, such as the 
lemon and lime, either alone or with malic 
and other acids. It is, however, principally 
obtained from the lemon (citrus imonum), and 
is colourless, inodorous, and extremely sour. 
It is soluble in cold, and still more in warm, 
water. The impurity to which crystalline citric 
acid is most liable is tartaric acid. 

If adulterated with sulphuric acid, as some- 
times occurs, the crystals will be damp, and 
when dissolved in distilled water, mixed with 
pure hydrochloric acid, and tested with a 
solution of the chloride of barium or nitrate of 
baryta, will give a white precipitate. Besides 
these impurities, citric acid may be bad owing 
to its having been made from inferior or 


ACIDS USED IN RESTORATION 81 


decayed fruit. It is used as a discharge in 
calico printing, and is also much employed to 
decompose alkaline carbonates. 

Carbonic acid occurs very abundantly in 
nature, combined with lime, magnesia, etc., 
from which it is easily separated by the addition 
of nearly any of the other acids. This gaseous 
acid is also formed in very large quantities 
during fermentation, the respiration of animals, 
the combustion of bodies containing carbon, 
etc. Carbonic acid gas is destructive of animal 
life and combustion. Although it undoubtedly 
affects paper, linen, etc., | have not known it 
to exert any destructive or modifying influence 
upon the colours of colour prints. In prints 
where the paper has become almost dark brown 
with carbonic acid, I have found after cleaning 
that the colours have come up as bright and 
fresh as when they were printed. 


CHAPTER X 
ALKALIES 
AVING described in the last chapter the 


acids useful to the picture restorer, it may 
be as well to say a word or two on the properties 
of the alkalies. ‘The distinguishing character- 
istics of these bodies are a strong, acrid, and 
powerfully caustic taste; a corrosive action 
upon all animal matter, destroying its texture 
with considerable rapidity; exposed to the 
atmosphere, when in their caustic state, they 
absorb carbonic acid with great rapidity, and 
become carbonated. It may be well to remind 
the reader that the action of alkalies upon 
vegetable colours is various. Some brighten 
colours generally, while others change them, 
and in some instances destroy them. With 
some, yellow is changed to a red brown, 
with others, red, blue, violet and many other 
purple vegetable colours are converted to 
green. The value of the alkalies being of 


considerable use in the arts, I will in this 
82 


ALKALIES 83 


chapter treat them somewhat in detail. ‘They 
are four in number, namely, ammonia (or vola- 
tile alkali), potass (or vegetable alkali), soda 
(or mineral alkali), and lithia, which last is of 
little importance. Ammonia is perhaps the 
most formidable of alkalies, and requires to be 
used with the greatest caution. It is a limpid, 
colourless fluid and has a very strong, pungent 
odour, an extremely acrid taste, and corrodes 
the skin. It is useful in dissolving many of the 
metallic oxides, also oils, resins, and many other 
vegetable principles. Its affinity for carbonic 
acid is so powerful that it rapidly attracts it 
from the atmosphere—hence the necessity of 
preserving it in small glass bottles, fitted with 
ground stoppers, to prevent the absorption of 
carbonic acid. 

Potass or vegetable alkali. The original 
source of this alkali is in the vegetable kingdom. 
When wood is burnt and the ashes lixiviated 
with water, boiled, strained, and evaporated to 
dryness, an intensely alkaline mass is obtained, 
which is known by the name of potash, from 
‘this process being conducted in iron pots. 
Potass is employed in soap-making, especially 
for the softer kinds of soap. 

Soaps consist of any of the three alkalies, 


84 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


soda, potash, and ammonia, in combination 
with one or more of the fatty acids. A good 
soap should be free from impurities and 
neutral, the alkali and fat being duly balanced. 
The quality of the fats employed is of the highest 
importance. For the use of the artist only the 
following should be employed, singly or in 
mixture—tallow, palm oil, coconut oil, olive 
oil, rape seed oil and its congeners. The 
superiority is generally assigned to tallow. 
Nevertheless a technological authority of high 
standing, Mr. J. W. Slater, holds that well- 
made palm and coconut oil soaps are preferable 
to any tallow soap. 

Soap powders, generally speaking, consist of 
common carbonate of soda crystals reduced to 
a fine powder. This powder differs in nothing 
from the ordinary crystallised carbonate of 
soda; it contains equal quantities of carbonic 
acid and of water. Being, however, in a state 
of fine division, it is much more rapidly soluble 
in water. 

Very great care should be taken to secure 
pure chemicals, and in the preparation of 
chemical solutions the vessels used should be 
free from grease or impurities of any kind. 
The alkalies should never be used in strong 


ALKALIES 85 


solutions; indeed, it is a sound rule to use 
weak solutions. If results do not speedily 
occur, the solution should be made a little 
stronger, as it is safer to err on the side of too 
weak than too strong a solution. ‘The former 
fault only protracts the process, and is quite 
remediable, but if the opposite error be com- 
mitted, as is too generally the case with alkalies, 
which are all more or less powerfully corrosive, 
one is likely to destroy the pictures rather than 
clean them. 

Corrosive sublimate, otherwise perchloride 
of mercury, is a compound of mercury with 
chlorine. It is a colourless crystalline body, 
soluble in water, ether, and alcohol. Anciently 
it is said to have been used as a mordant for 
murexide, the Tyrian dye or Roman purple, 
which was extracted from two little shell-fish 
entitled Murex and purpura, that were fished 
for on the coasts of Pheenicia, Northern 
Africa and Greece, and around all the Medi- 
terranean Isles. ‘This purple, of a reddish- 
violet colour, was much valued by the Roman 
Emperors, who forbade the common use of it, 
and from this restriction arose the phrase 
referring to those sovereigns of assuming the 
purple. 


86 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


Corrosive sublimate with the iodide of potass- 
ium yields a beautiful scarlet precipitate, known 
as “geranium red ’’—the iodide of mercury 
which is used as a paint. ‘Taxidermists employ 
this to kill insects and to preserve specimens. 
The property of coagulating various animal 
and vegetable matters has led to the employ- 
ment of corrosive sublimate for preventing the 
decay of timber, prints, etc. In the process of 
“* Kyanising ”’ wood (so called from its inventor) 
a solution of corrosive sublimate is forced into 
the vessels of the timber under pressure, when 
the sap is rendered insoluble and putrefaction 
prevented. It certainly will remove mildew 
from prints, but, as I have before remarked, I 
am not in favour of using poisonous substances. 
I again deprecate their use, particularly in the 
case of so dangerous a one as corrosive sub- 
limate, and for the following reasons :—Dan- 
gerous symptoms have arisen from its use as 
an antiseptic solution in surgical dressings. 
External applications in the form of lotion or 
ointment may even cause death. An exten- 
sively advertised “ skin tonic’’ was found to 
contain 1°6 grains of corrosive sublimate, and 
in a case before the Dublin Law Courts it was 
shown to have produced symptoms of mercurial 


ALKALIES 84 


poisoning. Apart from the danger of touching 
and handling this substance, there is the danger 
of inhaling its vapours and getting it into the 
body by way of the lungs. Suffice to say that 
even so small a quantity as three grains is a 
fatal dose. It is best, therefore, not to use so 
deadly a poison in removing or preventing 
mildew in prints. 

As a matter of fact there is no way of pre- 
venting mildew if a print be exposed to a damp 
wall or be kept in a damp portfolio or cup- 
board. Slight cases of mildew may be removed 
by immersing the print in boiling water, after 
which it should be allowed to drain and then 
flooded with pure spirits of wine. 

Another method for bad cases is a bath of 
permanganate of potash and thorough rinsing, 
followed by a bath of oxalic acid and further 
rinsing. 

Mildew and mould consist of minute forms 
of fungi, found on various deceased or decaying 
substances. ‘These names are generally applied 
indifferently to a multitude of hyphomycetous, 
physomycetous, and coniomycetous fungi, but 
some of the more common ones are especially 
distinguished. Thus the ordinary “ blue 
mould” is Aspergillus glaucus, another still 


88 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


more common blue or green mould is Pem- 
cilium glaucum. ‘The harmful results arising 
from these minute fungi are formidable, and 
unfortunately they possess most effectual means 
of increase, for the mycelium creeps into the 
tissue of the paper and thence spreads gradually 
throughout the whole surface, practically de- 
stroying all its texture. At times there may 
seem to be only a few spots, but it is well to 
remember that the actual mildew, as it appears 
to the observer, represents only a fraction of 
the system, being simply that part which is 
concerned with the production of spores. To 
prevent the action of moist atmosphere upon 
walls a solution should be made as follows :— 
Dissolve three-quarters of a pound of soap in 
ten pounds of boiling water. Any walls ex- 
posed to moisture should then be coated with 
this solution. ‘Take care in applying the solu- 
tion with a clean whitewash brush not to form 
bubbles. A little alcohol assists in dissolving 
the froth, and causes the solution to penetrate 
deeper into the wall. This first coat should 
be left for twenty-four hours or even longer if 
it is not dry and hard. A second coating 
should then be given with a solution composed 
of about half a pound of sulphate of alumina 


ALKALIES 89 


in thirty pounds of water. The work should 
be done in dry weather. 

People who are unfortunate enough to live 
in damp houses, near undrained land, should 
have planted near the house laurels and sun- 
flowers. The laurel gives off plenty of ozone, 
whilst the sunflower destroys the malarial 
condition. Few people are aware of the anti- 
malarial properties of the sunflower. The 
Helianthus or sunflower is an extensive genus 
of plants, and in planting them the perennial 
kinds should be chosen; if given a place to 
themselves they will increase rapidly and flower 
beautifully in early autumn. | 


CHAPTER XI 
CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES, SIGNS, ETC. 


_S it is my aim to furnish in the compass 

of this little work as much information as 
possible connected with anything appertaining 
to the art of restoration, I will devote a chapter 
in explanation of some of the signs generally 
used in chemistry, together with symbols used 
in art. 

Most people are aware that the mysterious 
signs seen on the big starboard light bottles in 
chemists’ windows are more or less relics and 
memorials of the chemistry of the middle 
ages and the peculiar system of alchemy 
‘“‘ which was veiled in allegory and illustrated 
by signs and symbols,” but many may not 
know the signs and abbreviations used in 
formula. Formula in chemistry is an expres- 
sion denoting the composition of a substance, 
in medicine, a prescription, or directions for 
making up medicines. For instance, RB means 

go 


CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES, SIGNS, ETC. 91 


recipe or statement of ingredients, formula, 
prescription, etc. 

F. or ft. In a formula these letters are 
abbreviations of fiat or fiant, let it or them 
be made; thus f. solutio, let the substance or 
substances prescribed be made into a solution 
or liquor. A capital S. represents signatura 
or the label to be put on the bottle. 

Some signs, abbreviations, etc., used in 
formule :— 


C or Cong. Congius. Imperial Gallon. 

O Octarius. Pint, of 20 fluid ounces. 

Ib Libra. Apothecaries’, or Troy Pound. 

3 Uncia. Troy Ounce. | 

£3 Fluiduncia. Fluid Ounce. 

3 Drachma. Drachm (60 grains). 

£4 Fluidrachma. Fluid Drachm (60 minims). 

§ Scrupulus. Scruple (20 grains). 

M Minimum. Minim (1-6oth of £3). 

gr. Granum, or grana. Grain, or grains. 

ss. Semis. A half. 

Sesqui. One and a half. 

q.p. Quantum placet. As much as you please. 
q.s. Quantum sufficit. As much as is sufficient. 
p.zq. Partes /Equales. Equal parts. 

Aa, Ana, and Sing. Of each ingredient. 


92 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


M. Misce. Mix. 

S.A. Secundum Artem. According to art. 
O.M. Old Wine measure. 

Co. or Comp. Compound. 

Av. Avoirdupois weight. 

Imp. Imperial measure. 

Pulv. or p. Pulvis. Powder. 

Sp. Gr. Specific gravity. 

d. water. Distilled water. 


This chapter is concerned more with signs, 
symbols, etc., but before going further the 
following list of the chemical substances used 
in the arts may as well be given here. 


Common Names. Chemical Names. 
Aqua Fortis . . Nitric Acid. 
Aqua Regia . . Nitro-Muriatic Acid. 
Blue Vitriol. . . Sulphate of Copper. 
Cream of Tartar . Bitartrate Potassium. 
Calomel . . . Chloride of Mercury. 
Chalk . . . . Carbonate Calcium. 
Salt of Tartar . . Carbonate of Potassa. 
Caustic Potassa . Hydrate Potassium. 
Chloroform . . Chloride of Gormyle. 
Common Salt . . Chloride of Sodium. 


Corrosive Sublimate Bichloride of Mercury. 
Glucose"... . "Grape Siigar 


CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES, SIGNS, ETC. 93 


Common Names. 
King’s Yellow . 
Lime 
Lunar Caustic . 
Muriate of Lime 
Nitre of Saltpetre . 
Oil of Vitriol 
Potash . 

Realgar . 
Sal-ammoniac . 
Slaked Lime 
ea 
Spirits of Paeaarn 
Spirit of Salt 
Stucco, or Plaster 
of Paris 
Sugar of Lead . 
Verdigris 
Vermilion 
Minegat.. .. 
Volatile Alkali . 
Water 


Chemical Names. 
Sulphide of Arsenic. 
Oxide of Calcium. 
Nitrate of Silver. 
Chloride of Calcium. 
Nitrate of Potash. 
Sulphuric Acid. 

Oxide of Potassium. 

Sulphide of Arsenic. 

Chloride of Ammonium. 

Hydrate Calcium. 

Oxide of Sodium. 

Ammonia. 

Hydrochloric or Muriatic 
Acid. 


Sulphate of Lime. 
Acetate of Lead. 

Basic Acetate of Copper. 
Sulphide of Mercury. 
Acetic Acid (Diluted). 
Ammonia. 


Oxide of Hydrogen. 


CHAPTER XII 
SYMBOLISM IN ART 


SYMBOL is the representation of some 

religious dogma as the Creed, the sum of 
the Christian belief, a sign to know one by, 
as the bond of intercommunion and test of 
fellowship and brotherhood among the elect ; 
that secret, private, and mystical note by which 
they recognised each other when it was not as 
yet committed to writing, and restricted to the 
initiated. Whereas an emblem is an arbitrary 
representation of an idea of human invention, 
and created by the imagination, a symbol may 
be used as an emblem, but an emblem cannot 
be employed as a symbol. For instance, a. 
sword is the symbol of martyrdom, but the 
peculiar emblem of St. Paul. An anchor may 
be either a symbol or an emblem. 

The earliest symbols were derived from 
Scripture: the Good Shepherd, disused be- 
tween the seventh and ninth centuries; the 
chased hart desiring the water brooks; the 

94 


SYMBOLISM IN ART 95 


anchor of the soul; and, later, the lamb stand- 
ing on the mountain of God’s house, or, after 
the sixth century, bearing on its shoulders the 
cross-banner. ‘The early Christian artists saw 
the cross prefigured in the outstretched arms 
of Moses on the hill and in his rod, which they 
delineated crowned with a T or cross. 

Then hieroglyphs were employed. St. 
Anthony appears with fire, the emblem of 
Divine love, a swine at his feet, typical of 
sensual desire trodden down; and a bell 
expressive of vigilance, and with the Tau, a 
form of cross. St. Christopher, by his height, 
represents loftiness of heart; by his sacred 
infant-burden, Christ in the soul, by his staff 
holding to the cross and by wading through 
a stormy river passage to the better country 
through martyrdom. St. George, armed as the 
Christian warrior and on horseback, transfixes 
with his lance the devil. Constantine pour- 
trayed in the Palatine, a knight with a cross on 
his helmet, warring with the dragon of idolatry. 

A knowledge of symbolism is both interesting 
and instructive, particularly in the study of 
early Christian art, and by it we may often be 
able to recognise certain figures in mutilated 
pictures or ancient monuments, stained glass, 


) 96 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


etc., for the use of emblems is as old as the 
Sphinx and the Pyramids, and the early Chris- 
tians probably copied or plagiarised many of the 
Egyptian signs and symbols, under which the 
truths of Christianity were veiled from the 
heathen and their use continued to the present 
day. 

Many particular emblems have been so 
generally and universally used as to have been 
interwoven and become almost part and parcel 
of our daily life. Amongst the most venerable 
may be mentioned the trine compas (as it is 


called by Chaucer), 
‘‘ That of the trine compas Lord and gide is,” 


or a circle inscribed with an equilateral triangle, 
denoting the co-equality and co-eternity of the 
three Divine persons. 

The Egyptian Triad was represented by a 
globe, a serpent, and a wing which appear on 
the front of all temples. The globe was an 
emblem of the Great Architect of the Universe, 
because his centre is everywhere and his cir- 
cumference immeasurable. 'The serpent desig- 
nates eternity and likewise wisdom. ‘The wing 
was the symbol of air, or the spirit. On a 
monument at Thebes, the globe is coloured 


SYMBOLISM IN ART 97 


red, the two serpents are golden, and the wings 
red and azured; the intervals between the 
two serpents is filled by a green tint. The red 
being the symbol of the love divine, the gold 
or golden yellow indicates the word Revelation ; 
the azure the air, or divine breath; the green 
was the last divine sphere, which is again found 
in the emerald rainbow of the Apocalypse. 

Whatever established prejudices may be, I 
ought here to repeat the opinion of a savant 
offered merely as a conjecture, but which here 
acquires a high degree of certainty: “It is 
Iso, it is the Saviour of the World and Son of 
Justice, that the Egyptians figured on all the 
porchways or entrances of their temples; and 
the signification of this symbol was therefore 
that which Malachi has transmitted (ch. iv., 
verse 2), ‘ Unto you that fear my name shall 
the sun of Righteousness arise with healing in 
his wings.’ ” 

This approximation will doubtless appear 
strange to those who forget that the Messiah 
is called by the Fathers of the Church the sun 
and the good serpent; that the Holy Ghost 
descended on the anointed of the Lord in the 
form of a dove; and finally, that the globe, 


the serpent, and the wings have precisely the 
H 


98 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


same signification on monuments of the middle 
ages as on the temples of Thebes. 

On entering Winchester Cathedral the eye 
wanders along the long-drawn nave to the 
great window which is still glowing with the 
richest colouring, notwithstanding the mutila- 
tion of iconoclastic violence and later restora- 
tion with painted fragments from other windows. 
Here are portions of two very mutilated windows 
in the north aisle of the choir. They are inter- 
esting as showing how a knowledge of symbolism 
may be of use. Fig. 1, by carrying a sword, 
indicates that it is St. Lucy. Now suppose 
that the top of the sword-blade had disappeared, 
also the pommel, leaving only the centre of the 
blade, which might be mistaken for a taper, 
but this would still indicate St. Lucy; again 
suppose all the sword had gone except the hilt, 
which might be taken for a platter. Now the 
problem then would be, what should be painted - 
in to make the picture complete and right? If 
a dish were painted with two eyes on it it would 
indicate the figure was that of St. Lucy, if'a 
taper in the outstretched hand or a sword it 
would still be correct as St. Lucy, for all these 
things are emblems of her. 

Fig. 2 is known by the arrows to be that of 


LUCY 


teyill 


SYMBOLISM IN ART 99 


St. Ursula. Ursula was a British princess, 
and, as the legend says, was going to France 
with her virgin train, but was driven by adverse 
winds to Cologne, where she and her com- 
panions were martyred by the Huns. In her 
delightful volume “‘ Genius Loci’ Vernon Lee 
says that “* Cologne, thanks to the great num- 
bers of St. Ursula’s maids of honour, had the 
luck of getting very many relics all at once; 
and particularly one feels it after a visit to the 
Treasury of St. Ursula’s Church, a vaulted 
chapel, whose upper part is, very literally, 
thatched vertically and horizontally with canon- 
ised bones in elaborate pattern.” 

The emblems on ancient and medizval tombs 
included badges of sex or profession ; the comb, 
keys, shears for women; and for men the 
sword, the horn, the moneyer’s scales, the 
priest’s chalice and paten. ‘The still earlier 
emblems were numerous. Heaven was repre- 
sented by a segment of a circle edged with a 
rainbow, and to symbolise God with the 
Creator’s hand issuing from it or a cloud. A 
deep blue globe stood for the universe; a ring 
for eternity ; the rose of Sharon for incorrup- 
tion; a cock for vigilance, a horse for the 
Christian race; a dolphin for zeal in doing 


100 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


good ; the pelican “‘ in its piety ” has a crimson 
stain on its beak, supposed to be caused by 
feeding its young with its blood. 

Turning from the sacred to things secular 
and mundane in the use of emblems it is 
nevertheless curious to note that “a wine 
barrel, composed of many staves,” was the sign 
of Christian union. Athenzus and other Greek 
and Roman writers present numerous instances 
of the general use of signs by the tavern keeper ; 
in accordance with the line in the ancient 
epigrammist :— 


“ He hung th’ instructive symbol o’er his door.” 


In England, signs appear to have been 
adopted at a very early period. A discerning 
eye may discover in many of our signs evident 
marks of the religion prevalent among us before 
the Reformation. 

Pepys in his Diary frequently mentions the 
‘* Herculés Pillars ” as a tavern to which he and 
his friends resorted. ‘This sign has nothing to 
do with the pillars torn asunder by Hercules, 
but indicates the two brazen pillars set up by 
Solomon at the entrance of his Temple, which 
every Freemason knows are the emblems of 
strength and stability. Publicans were not, 


SYMBOLISM IN ART 101 


however, the only persons who indicated their 
dwellings by signs, for it is shown by every 
kind of record extant that all other callings and 
trades adopted similar indications, and that 
notoriety was obtained by an infinite diversity 
of pictorial symbols from the artists who dwelt 
in Harp Alley, Shoe Lane. 

Signs were at length deemed a_ public 
nuisance, and the law in 1764 caused their 
removal, and the houses consequently began to 
be numbered, New Burlington Street being the 
first to be so distinguished. 


CHAPTER XIII 


INDIAN INK: ITS MANUFACTURE, USES, AND HOW 
TO CLEAN DRAWINGS MADE WITH IT 


HE Chinese historians attribute the inven- 

tion of ink to Tien-Tchen, who is supposed 
to have flourished about 2,600 years B.c. At this 
time, we are told, the ink used by the Chinese 
was a kind of lacquer (urushi). Afterwards, 
some kind of black stone to which water had 
been added was employed, and finally, about 
two centuries and a half before the Christian 
era, in the province of Kiang-Si, they began to 
make balls of lamp-black, obtained by burning 
a mixture of lacquer, wood, and size. The new 
ink was quickly adopted, and not only did poets 
celebrate the qualities of the ink of Kiang-Si, 
but the province had the satisfaction of having 
its industry supervised by an official of the 
Imperial Court, and of sending an annual 
tribute of ink for the special use of the emperors 
of the Tang dynasty. ‘Towards the end of the 


sway of that family lived an inkmaker whose 
102 


INDIAN INK 103 


name, Li-Ting-Kouei, is still remembered after 
the lapse of so many centuries. He was not 
only famous for the diverse forms into which 
he moulded his cakes or sticks of ink, but also 
for the honesty and excellence of his manu- 
factures. ‘Ihe indirect services he rendered to 
literature and learning were acknowledged in 
an Imperial decree, which added an honorary 
syllable to his name. Li-Ting-Kouei is the 
most famous maker of ink, and though many 
have emulated, it is held that none have sur- 
passed him. 

For the production of the lamp-black of 
Indian ink various methods have been employed, 
but firwood has generally been used in combina- 
tion with various oily substances. ‘The best 
ink is very intense in colour, is about as deep a 
black as it is possible to get, and has an aromatic 
scent and flavour. It is believed that the Chinese 
are indebted to the Coreans for the processes 
now used, and that Corea is the real birthplace 
of ink manufacture. 

Maurice Jametal in a monograph upon the 
Indian or rather Chinese ink, in addition to 
historical data, gives the practical details of the 
art set out in an elementary treatise by Chen- 
ki-Souen. ‘This book is one of a kind very rare 


104 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


in the literature of China, whose writers as a 
rule have a profound contempt for all that is 
practical. 

We need not follow the worthy author 
through the details. Fortunately, he has not 
trusted entirely to his own powers of exposition, 
and the artist whose help he has invoked has, in 
a series of quaint drawings, given us some 
interesting glimpses into the industrial life of 
the Middle Kingdom. 

The Pantheon of China is so well stocked that 
no surprise need be felt at the presence in it of 
demigods whose functions are to guard and 
preserve the various instruments of writing. 
The God of Ink was known as the “ Prefect 
of the Black Perfume,” and had precedence 
over the Spirit of the Pencil, who had, indeed, 
only the rank of a sub-prefect, and also over the 
Genius of Paper, who merely ranked as the 
Chief of a District. One day, says a quaint 
legend, an Emperor of the ‘Tang dynasty was 
at work in his study, when suddenly, from a 
stick of ink that lay upon his table, there stepped 
forth the figure, no bigger than a fly, of a 
Taouist priest. ‘‘ I am the Spirit of the Ink,” 
he said; “‘ my title is the Ambassador of the 
Black Fir, and I am come to announce that 


INDIAN INK 105 


henceforth, whenever one truly endowed with 
learning or genius writes, there shall be visible 
the Twelve Divinities of Ink.”’ 

Indian ink is used in China and Japan with a 
brush, both for writing and for painting. It is 
used in Europe for designs in black and white, 
in which it possesses the advantage of affording 
various depths and gradation of shade according 
to the degree of dilution with water. 

Black is a very valuable colour in producing 
effects which please by their surprise, and is 
most useful in toning down warm colours. 
_ The ancient Egyptian and Greek artists were 
particularly alive to the importance of this 
colour, and composed their blacks from the 
best charcoal of burnt vine-twigs. 

In more modern times the work of the 
Japanese particularly calls our attention to the 
value of this colour in their methods of ringing 
the changes in black from its deep luminous 
tones to pleasing and softest tones of grey. 

As occasionally one may be requested to 
clean and restore a monochrome of Varley or 
Prout, or an architectural drawing, I will give 
a few hints in this chapter as to the method of 
procedure. Architectural drawings are not 
generally very difficult to clean, because as a 


106 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


rule architectural draughtsmen first of all draw 
their designs in pencil on strong Whatman 
paper; they are then inked in with a strong 
deep Indian ink. After this has been done, 
and before proceeding to colour, the whole 
drawing is washed with a sponge and clean 
water. When the drawing is almost dry it 1s 
tinted with flat washes of colour in the ordinary 
way; therefore, the whole drawing is first 
of all rubbed all over with a piece of soft white 
india rubber to remove the surface dirt to which 
architectural drawings are very liable from 
handling while they are being referred to by 
builders. After the surface dirt has been 
removed, a weak bath of chloride of lime 
followed by a thorough rinsing is almost all that 
is required. Should the colours be lowered or 
weakened by the bath, they may be strengthened 
by a slight wash of water-colour before the 
paper gets quite dry; this will tone the colours 
into the drawing. 

With a Varley or Prout drawing it is a different 
matter entirely, and one should proceed very 
carefully. In the first place some artists do 
not use Indian ink when making black and white 
drawings, but prefer ivory-black for its full, 
silky black, and as this colour has a tendency to 


INDIAN INK 107 


brown in its pale washes, some are in the 
habit of adding other colours to correct this 
tendency. Now as ivory-black is made by 
charring ivory it is chemically speaking animal 
charcoal, and had better not be brought into 
contact with organic pigments, because of the 
' powerful discolourising action of animal char- 
coal. Gum water is frequently added to retard 
this action and to strengthen the depth of the 
black. When this is the case with a drawing, 
the process of cleaning it is sure to lower the 
general tone by dissolving the gum that has 
been mixed with the black. One can nearly 
always see at a glance if gum has been used, 
but if there is any doubt a test should be made 
on one of the bottom corners of the drawing by 
touching it gently with a large camel-hair or sable 
brush half full of water. If the black does not 
yield or come away, one can proceed to clean 
the drawing in comparative safety. If, how- 
ever, gum water has been freely used it is better 
not to take any risk by cleaning. 

Ivory-black is perfectly durable if used by 
itself, but it must be used entirely by itself from 
start to finish of a drawing for the latter to stand 
cleaning and restoration. 

When cleaning a “ black and white” or 


108 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


monochrome drawing proceed as follows. If 
the drawing is mounted on a cardboard of what 
is termed six-or-eight-sheet, split four or more 
of these layers off by carefully inserting a paper 
knife between the layers till there are only 
one or two layers left. By doing this the 
work of unmounting the drawings is rendered 
safer and easier. When this has MAHER): 
the back of what remains of the mount is then 
held up close to the spout of a kettle of water 
kept boiling on a gas ring. Gradually, by going 
all over the back, the steam will permeate the 
cardboard and allow the drawing to be pulled 
off quite easily. Do not use any force. If the 
drawing does not leave the mount easily con- 
tinue the steaming process till it does. 

Having removed the drawing, lay it face 
downwards on a clean sheet of blotting-paper 
placed on a sheet of plate glass. With a sponge 
remove all trace of paste, gum, glue, or whatever 
mountant has been used, and the drawing is then 
ready for cleaning. Remove the blotting-paper 
and lay the drawing face downwards on the 
glass and flood with water, tilting the glass so 
that the water may drain off. Have a solution 
of chloride of lime ready, and with a full brush 
go all over the back of the drawing, taking care 


INDIAN INK 109 


not to let the chloride of lime get on to the front 
of the drawing. About five to ten minutes 
should be long enough to remove any stains or 
blemishes. ‘The back of the drawing is then 
thoroughly rinsed, and while doing this, the 
drawing should be kept in contact with the glass 
by the fingers of the left hand. The drawing 
is then turned face upwards on the glass, 
gently flushed with water, and after thorough 
rinsing is allowed to dry flat on the glass, If the 
process is carried out carefully the drawing will 
dry bright and clean and without injury. 


CHAPTER XIV 
CLEANING JAPANESE PRINTS 


HE question of the condition of a Japanese 

print is one of personal taste. Some 
prefer their prints to remain in a more or less 
soiled condition because of a certain kind of 
tone or softness that has occurred through age 
or exposure. In the case of a very rare or 
ancient print this is excusable, and I should 
certainly advise its being left zm statu quo ; but 
when ordinary prints become soiled, as so 
frequently happens, I cannot help thinking that 
at any rate a slight cleansing is necessary. It 
is seldom that one sees, except in some noted 
collection, prints with the colours unchanged 
and the paper in immaculate condition; on 
the contrary, as far as my experience goes, the 
ordinary print that one picks up is generally 
injured either by fading of the colours, worm- 
holes, tears, creases, stains, and dirt. 


As regards faded colours and worm-holes, 
IIO 


CHOZAN OF CHOJI-YA, ATTENDED BY HER TWO KAMURO. 
JAPANESE THEATRICAL POSTER ARTIST 


Spectvien of clearing 


BY 


ESN 
avail tts 


KIYONAGA 


+h) 


Siu 


Le 


ay 


THE 


CLEANING JAPANESE PRINTS II! 


not much can be done. In some prints of 
Harunobu, Hiroshige, and Kiyonaga, the blues, 
whites, and delicate pinks have changed colour, 
and in others they have vanished altogether. 
This is no doubt owing to the fact that many of 
the colours used by the early artists were most 
unstable. When the colours have faded from 
old prints, it is better to leave them and not 
attempt to colour them in. Later on I will 
describe how these colours can be slightly 
improved. 

Worm-holes may be made good in the 
following manner: Take a fragment of paper 
which matches as nearly as possible that of the 
print, and with a pair of scissors cut a neat small 
patch slightly larger than the worm-hole. Lay 
the print face downwards on a sheet of clean 
white blotting-paper, and with a camel-hair 
or sable brush damp the worm-hole spots, then 
touch the patch of paper with some good paste 
(rice or starch is the best) and with tweezers 
lay it over the worm-hole; after covering the 
whole with a sheet of blotting-paper, press with 
a slightly warmed flatiron till dry. 

Tears, if simple, should have the edges 
moistened with paste and be treated as above 
described for worm-holes. If the tears are 


112 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


awkward and at all complicated, it is best to 
put a neat patch behind them. Always use 
blotting-paper, because if it should happen to 
adhere to the paste while being pressed, it can 
easily be removed by damping after the repairs 
have been made. Creases can, if they are small, 
be got out with a warm iron, but if they are 
large and bad it is best to damp the whole back 
of the print and lay it on a wet sheet of glass, 
then smoothing and pressing over the whole 
surface of the print with a sheet of blotting- 
paper till the print is in perfect contact with the 
glass. ‘The print is then put to dry gradually, 
when all trace of creases will disappear. As to 
stains, if these are only slight they will generally 
yield with a good rinsing. Surface dirt will 
also go the same way. With deep stains a 
bleaching is necessary, but it is not advisable 
to venture upon this process unless one has had 
considerable experience. A camel-hair brush 
or mop with some lukewarm water and good 
yellow soap will generally remove grimed-in 
dirt. All trace of soap should be thoroughly 
rinsed away. | 

General cleaning, I find, is best done as 
follows : Get a white enamel bath, and a sheet 
of plate glass slightly smaller than the bath, so 


CLEANING JAPANESE PRINTS 113 


that it can be easily lifted from the bottom of 
the bath. A photographic developing dish, 
24 by 20in., makes an excellent bath and will 
take almost all the different sizes of Japanese 
prints, which are as follows, viz. :— 

Surimono.—A print, generally of small size 
and on thick, soft paper, intended as a festival 
greeting or memento of some special occasion. 
It is sent out at the New Year particularly. 

Uki-ye, or bird’s-eye view pictures, are 94 
by 14#in. 

Yoko-ye.—The horizontal print, about 10 by 
15 in.—the normal full-size landscape sheet. 

Chuban.—A vertical print, about 11 by 8 in., 
is sometimes called the medium-size sheet. 

Koban, another vertical print, is_ slightly 
smaller than the Chuban. 

Oban is about 15 by 10 in. and is the normal 
full-size upright sheet. It is often mounted as 
Kakemono. | 

Hashira-ye is a very tall, narrow print, about 
28 by 5 in., used to hang on the wooden pillars 
of a Japanese house. 

Kakemono-ye.—A very tall, wide print, about 
28 by 1oin. ‘The Kakemono is usually mounted 
on a margin of brocade, with an elaborate 


roller atthe bottom. It is hung upon the wall at 
: 


114 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


certain seasons, and when not in use is rolled 
up and put away in a box. Owing to this, and 
its being stored in what is called the “‘ go-down,”’ 
it is frequently found very rubbed and mildewed. 

There are many other terms for Japanese 
prints, as Uchiwa-ye, a print in the shape of a 
fan, Nishiki-ye or brocade picture—this term 
was first used to describe the brilliant colour- 
inventions of Harunobu, but is now loosely 
applied to all polychrome prints. Diptych, 
triptych, etc., are compositions consisting of 
two, three, or more sheets. 

Beni-ye is a print in which ben, a delicate 
pink, is the chief colour used. The term is 
generally used to describe two-colour prints 
which preceded the invention of polychrome 
printing. 

As the paper used in the old Japanese prints 
is thick, soft, spongy in texture, and of a creamy 
ivory tone, it is very necessary to be extremely 
careful in cleaning it. India rubber should 
never be used in surface cleaning or for the 
removal of dust. This is best done with a 
piece of quite new bread or a piece of dough, 
or with the two worked up together into a kind 
of ball; go over the whole surface of the print 
with this in a series of circles. ‘This process is 


- 


CLEANING JAPANESE PRINTS 115 


absolutely harmless to the most delicate print, 
so it is not a bad plan to subject a print to it 
before it goes into the bath, as it will remove 
slight surface markings that the bath will not. 
The method of using the bath is as follows : 
Take the sheet of plate glass and wet it with 
water, then carefully lay the print fact down- 
wards on the glass and allow the water to flow 
over the print. While this is going on, wash 
the back of the print with a large camel-hair 
brush. Reverse the print and, if necessary, 
wash the front very gently in the same manner. 
After this is done, tilt the glass by resting it on 
one side of the bath, and while holding the print 
in its place with the thumb and finger of the 
left hand, hold the rubber tubing from the water 
tap with the right hand, and let the water flow 
gently all over the print forafew minutes. After 
this has been done, let the print drain for another 
few minutes. Have ready a sheet of clean 
blotting-paper on which to lay the print after 
it has drained off the superfluous water. Wipe 
dry the plate glass and lay upon it a dry sheet of 
blotting-paper. On this lay the print face 
downwards, covered with blotting-paper. A 
piece of cardboard laid on the blotting-paper 
and a slight weight or pressure over all com- 


116 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


pletes the process. Before the print is quite 
dry, any injuries in the way of worm-holes or 
tears should be attended to in the manner above 
described. 

If the print is badly torn, say in several places, 
it is better to mount it entirely on a sheet of 
Japanese paper. Care should be taken in 
mounting, as Japanese paper stretches consider- 
ably when wet. To get a smooth result, the 
print, together with the mounting paper, should 
be damped and put between blotting-paper till 
almost dry. The print is then laid face down- 
wards on a sheet of glass or of blotting-paper 
and smoothed out quite flat. The mounting 
paper, after being treated in a similar manner, 
is pasted smoothly with thin rice or starch 
paste and laid on the print and pressed with 
blotting-paper evenly all over by a thick card- 
board. Weights are then put on the cardboard 
and the print is left to dry, with an occasional 
change of blotting-paper, which will absorb the 
damp. Before final pressing it is as well to see 
that no paste has got on to either the back or 
front of the print. If such is the case, it 
should be wiped off with a soft piece of sponge 
kept specially for this purpose. 

Japanese prints should never be mounted on 


CLEANING JAPANESE PRINTS 117 


cardboard, z.e.stuck down. If they are mounted 
at all it is usual to tack the top corners with 
paste and lay them on a cream or slightly tinted 
card, with a larger margin at the top and bottom 
than the sides. A glass can then be laid over 
the whole and bound round with paper. If the 
paper binding laps over the glass cover about a 
quarter of an inch—it makes a neat finish; and 
if a couple of rings, with tape tabs, are glued 
on the back of the card, the picture can then be 
hung on the wall even without a frame, and looks 
quite artistic. ‘The most suitable mouldings for 
framing Japanese prints are the plain narrow 
ones. 

In conclusion, I cannot do better than quote 
from one of the best authorities on Japanese 
prints, viz. Mr. Arthur Davison Ficke, who, in 
his ‘‘ Chats on Japanese Prints,” cautions the 
inexperienced against acts of vandalism. “ 'To 
cut down, colour, or otherwise mutilate a 
print, is one of those unforgivable offences 
which often demonstrate conclusively how easy 
it is for a fool to destroy in five minutes the 
achievement of a genius’s lifetime. One well- 
known collector, now dead, boiled his Harunobus 
in paraffin to give them lustre ; another painted 
branches into the pillar prints of Kortusai ; 


118 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


another cut down the size of his Hiroshiges, 
leaving only those portions that particularly 
pleased him. If the feelings of later collectors 
have any potency in heaven, these men are now 
in hell. Not only is any attempt to improve 
upon the artist’s work a contemptible piece of 
presumption, but even the mere effort to repair 
damages inflicted by time may be an unwise 
venture. Frequently such injuries could be 
remedied by an expert were it not that some- 
one, with the best intentions in the world, has, 
out of sheer inexperience, made the injuries 
irreparable.” 

If a print comes into the expert’s hands 
untouched, he can, as a rule, successfully 
restore it; but if the print has been tampered 
with by ignorant attempts at restoration, he 
is very greatly handicapped and almost helpless. 
Tears, stains, abrasions, and chemical decom- 
position may yield to skilful treatment; but 
unless one knows with the utmost exactitude 
what he expects to accomplish and how he 
intends to proceed at every step, he had best 
leave the matter strictly alone, or entrust it to 
other hands. 


a 


CHAPTER XV 


PARCHMENT AND VELLUM AND SOME 
MOUNTANTS 


ARCHMENT, which consists of the skins 

of sheep and goats, is used extensively in 
the printing of etchings, and also in the drawing 
up of a great variety of deeds and other legal 
instruments. Parchment is coarser than vellum, 
which is made from the skins of calves. Vellum 
is prepared in such a manner as to render it 
suitable for the writing of illuminated addresses, . 
the covering of books, and other purposes. 
The qualities of parchment and vellum differ 
very widely ; so much so, that the best parch- 
ment is preferable to inferior or even middling 
vellum. The goodness of each depends partly 
on the quality of the skins of which they are 
made, and partly, and indeed in a very high 
degree, on the care and skill devoted to their 
manufacture. When the skin is divested of its 
hair, or wool, it is placed for some time in a 


lime-pit, and then stretched on a square wooden 
119 


120 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


frame tightened by pegs. While on the frame, 
the skin is first scraped on the flesh side with 
a blunt iron instrument, then wetted with a moist 
rag covered with pounded chalk, and rubbed 
well with pumice-stone. After a short pause 
these operations are repeated, but without 
chalk. ‘The skin is then turned, and scraped 
on the hair side only. The flesh side is scraped 
once more, and again rubbed over with chalk. 
All this is done by the skinner, who allows the 
skin to dry on the frame, and then sends it to 
the parchment-maker, who repeats the opera- 
tions with a sharper tool, but lays the skin on a 
special pad instead of stretching it on a frame. 
I have gone into the details of the manufacture 
in order to show that damping and stretching 
is quite natural in the treatment of parchment 
or vellum. 

In mounting a parchment print or etching it 
is best to immerse it first of allin water. After 
it has soaked for a few minutes, take it out and 
lay it straight between two sheets of clean white 
blotting-paper. When it is almost dry and still 
supple, lay it on a thick mounting board (the 
thicker the better) and mark with pencil the 
four corners thus FT on the mounting board. 
Then take the parchment and lay it face down- 


PARCHMENT AND VELLUM 121 


wards on a sheet of plate glass. Then get a 
slip of glass and lay the glass on the parchment 
about half an inch from the edge all round. 
Take a paste-brush and go carefully two or three 
times over the edges till you are quite sure that 
you have enough paste on to stick the parch- 
ment. Next place the parchment carefully on 
the mounting board so that the corners tally 
with those marked in pencil. You can take 
your time in adjusting the parchment accurately. 
Now comes one of the most important points 
in the process, the pressing of the edges 
thoroughly all round with clean blotting-paper. 
After this has been done the parchment is laid 
aside to dry. If, in the various manipulations, 
the parchment has got finger marks, take a clean 
sponge and rub them off. While the parch- 
ment is drying the mount should be held down 
tightly at the corners; this is best effected by 
laying on four weights. There chould be two 
or three pieces of blotting-paper put beneath 
the weights to prevent any impress. When 
dry the parchment will be as tight and smooth 
as a drum. Note—the parchment must not 
be too damp when it is stuck on the mount, 
otherwise the pull will be too great and probably 
tear away the mount. 


122 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


As regards the mounting of vellum, the pro- 
cess is somewhat different. The front must 
not be damped. It should be laid, the prepared 
side down, on a sheet of blotting-paper. With 
a clean sponge, the back of the vellum is damped 
thoroughly. If the vellum is of a small size 
it is best to use for a mount a new, cheap draw- 
ing board, slightly smaller than the vellum. 
While the vellum is damp it is laid on the draw- 
ing board and the overlapping sides and top 
and bottom are tacked with small copper or 
brass tacks in the way one would tack a canvas 
for oil painting. Make sure that there are no 
puckers at the corners. If any occur they 
should be smoothed out with the blotting- 
paper before being tacked. Always start tacking 
from the middle and put one or two drawing 
pins first of all in the middle of the sides and 
top and bottom so as to fix the vellum exactly 
in its place. 

In a former chapter I gave a method for 
making paste from flour, but it is well to know 
some of the allies and surrogates of flour and 
their use as mountants. Let me now revert 
to mountants generally. Glue is frequently 
used as a mountant, but for several reasons I do 
not think its use advisable. In the first place 


PARCHMENT AND VELLUM 123 


it is frequently contaminated by carrion flies, 
hairs, etc., and secondly, if exposed to warmth 
and moisture, it is liable to mildew, as are also 
the pictures or prints to which it has been 
applied. Glue frequently cracks, on account 
of the dryness of the air, in rooms warmed by 
stoves. ‘The addition of a little chloride of 
calcium to the glue will, however, prevent 
this. 

While on the subject of glue let me call 
attention to some of its properties. Dry glue 
steeped in cold water absorbs different quantities 
of water according to the quality of the glue, 
while the proportion of the water so absorbed 
may be used as a test of the quality of the glue. 
From careful experiments with dry glue im- 
mersed for twenty-four hours in water at 60° 
Fahr., and thereby transformed into a jelly, it 
was found that the finest ordinary glue or that 
made from white bones absorbs twelve times 
its weight of water in twenty-four hours; from 
dark bones the glue absorbs nine times its 
weight of water; while the ordinary glue made 
from animal refuse absorbs but from three to 
five times its weight of water. 

The§best way to make glue is to break it up 
into small pieces and let them soak for six 


124 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


hours in cold water. Cover the pieces with 
water and when they are thoroughly softened, 
pour off any water that may not have been soaked 
up by the glue and then transfer the pieces to the 
glue-pot, stirring them while they are melting 
over the fire. When thoroughly dissolved stir 
in a few drops of oil of cloves, and your glue 
will be ready for use. While in use glue 
should always be kept hot by a gas ring on the 
bench. The hotter the glue is, the thinner the 
coating needed and the better the joint. A good 
stiff hog-hair brush should be used for applying 
the glue as quickly as possible to both surfaces. 
It is a mistake to put glue away for future use 
with the brush stuck in it. Continual stewing 
destroys the quality of the glue and spoils the 
brush. If there is any glue left over in the pot 
after a job has been finished, the glue-pot should 
be filled up to the brim with cold water so that 
the brush may be kept clean and supple. It is 
a little more trouble, but freshly made glue is 
always stronger and works in more cleanly 
fashion than stale which has been left in the 
pot. Liquid glues are made in great variety, 
to save the trouble of heating before use, but 
none of them is so effective as ordinary fresh- 
made glue. 


PARCHMENT AND VELLUM 125 


For all ordinary mounting work fine white 
flour paste is undoubtedly the best. Rye flour 
makes a very tenacious paste, but is only suitable 
for the very roughest work and should certainly 
not be used for any fine art work, as it attracts 
book worms perhaps more than any other paste. 
It is made in a manner somewhat similar to 
ordinary paste, but should have more boiling. 
This is, however, a very messy operation, and if 
it must be used, far better to obtain it ready 
made from any dealer in shoemakers’ materials. 
It will not keep long, as it ferments very 
rapidly. 

Some people imagine that greater adhesiveness 
is imparted to a paste by adding foreign matters 
to it, such, for instance, as caustic alkali to 
starch. It may be as well to point out in passing 
that it is not advisable to add anything to a 
paste (excepting a preservative) as the purer 
it is kept the better for the print, whether of a 
photograph, etching, or engraving. 

For many reasons I am inclined to think that 
the less paste used in mounting of any kind the 
better, but “ that’s another story,” which I will 
explain in the proper place. 

Rice makes an excellent paste, indeed I am 
not sure that it is not superior to all other pastes. 


126 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


Its adhesive property is rather stronger than 
flour paste, and it is ever so much better for 
mounting either a fine India or a Japanese 
paper. 

Arrowroot, the pith or starch of the root 
maranta arundinacea, received its common 
English name from the use to which the American 
Indians applied the roots of a plant once con- 
founded with the maranta but now called 
Alpinia galanga, as an antidote to the effect of 
poisoned arrows. ‘The powder is prepared from 
roots of a year old. It is often adulterated with 
the starch or flour of potatoes. It is therefore 
best to procure it from a good chemist. A paste 
of the finest quality may be made from it and 
the method of preparing it is very similar to 
that of starch. 

Starch and gelatine form another mixture 
recommended by the ‘‘ Amateur Photographer.” 
It combines the strong adhesive properties of 
gelatine with the convenience of a mountant 
which can be used cold. An excellent formula 
is that of Mr. Ethelbert Henry. 


Bermuda arrowroot Oy 3 
Nelson’s No. 1 gelatine . . 6drams 
Cold water, .) © (4 °o) a 


PARCHMENT AND VELLUM 127 


Mix the arrowroot in about 4 ounces of 
water and let the gelatine soak inthe rest. When 
the arrowroot is well mixed, free from lumps, 
and the gelatine swelled, transfer both to an 
enamelled iron saucepan and boil over a gas 
stove for five or six minutes. When cool 
add :— 


Methylated spirits Po ee ae ae OS 
Carbolic acid (liquid) . . . 26 minims 


A soft gelatine must be used, or the mountant 
will be too stiff to use comfortably. 

Another good formula is Gower’s, which 
runs as follows. Place two ounces of starch in 
a basin, and mix up with a small quantity of cold 
water. Dilute to about a pint. Boil over a 
gentle fire till the liquid gelatinises, stirring all 
the time with a wooden spoon. While quite 
hot, add one ounce of glycerine and about six 
minims or drops of oil of cloves, and then pour 
the mixture into a jar to cool. When nearly 
cold, stir in gradually one ounce of methylated 
spirit, and mix very thoroughly. If made in 
this way the paste will keep indefinitely. Starch 
and gum make a very-good mountant, with 
greater adhesive power than starch alone, and 
is suitable for mounting photographs on thick 


128. PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


papers. A standard formula (Valenta’s) can 
be recommended :— 


Best gum arabic =. 9...) a ieee 
Distilled water... > apes eee 


Soak until the gum is thoroughly dissolved and 
then strain through a very fine muslin to get 
rid of any grit or impurities in the gum, and add 
to starch, two parts, previously made into a 
paste with a little water. Mix well and 
thoroughly, and heat the mixture by putting 
the jar into a saucepan of water and retaining 
it there until it boils or until the starch gela- 
tinises. When cool, add thymol dissolved in a 
little alcohol, in the proportion of two grains per 
ounce weight of the mixture. 

Dextrine is a modification of starch procured 
by boiling common starch in diluted sulphuric 
acid and also in some other acids; by this 
treatment the starch soon loses its consistence 
and becomes thin and limpid, being converted 
into dextrine. It is the best mountant for 
photographs because of its great adhesiveness, 
and it does not cockle the mount or penetrate 
the photograph so much as many other mount- 
ants. Higgins’s “ photo-mounter”’ is said to 
be a dextrine preparation, made according to 


PARCHMENT AND VELLUM 129 


the patent specification (No. 17,337, 1891), 
by dissolving dextrine quickly in water at 150° 
to 160° Fahr., in the proportion of five pounds 
per gallon, cooling quickly to 40° Fahr., filling 
into jars, and allowing to stand in a cool place 
for several days or weeks, until the contents 
assume a white, pasty form. 


CHAPTER XVI 
PHOTOGRAPHING PICTURES 


O copy paintings, etc., properly it is first — 

of all necessary to have an absolutely firm, 
solid, and easily adjusted copying stand. A 
very handy one can be made by getting two 
3-in. square lengths of hard wood; these are 
connected by several battens. Lengths of iron 
1 pieces are then screwed on to the hard wood 
so as to form a kind of tramway. ‘Two uprights 
are then fitted into two runners to form a sort 
of upright easel. On the bottom of each runner 
a pair of sash wheels are let in almost flush so 
that they will run smoothly along the tramway. 
A carrier is then made in a somewhat similar 
manner for the camera. This carrier should be 
just so high that when the camera is on it the 
lens points to the centre of the board of the 
upright easel. By this simple apparatus very 
much time and trouble is saved in focussing ; 
indeed, without some such arrangement it is 
130 | 


PHOTOGRAPHING PICTURES 131 


impossible to avoid distortion of the subject 
by failing to secure parallelism. 

If, however, one only occasionally has copying 
to do, a ready method of quickly adjusting a 
picture and the ground-glass screen to parallel- 
ism is a matter of importance when copying is 
to be undertaken with ordinary apparatus not 
specially fitted for ensuring proper adjustment. 
Against the bottom edge of the board upon 
which the original is fastened, a magnetic 
compass is held, the compass being in a square 
case; the reading having been taken, the com- 
pass is then similarly placed in relation to the 
focussing screen, and this latter is shifted until 
a similar reading is obtained. The horizontal 
adjustment having been made as described, the 
plumb line is used to secure the vertical 
correspondence. 

When the attempt is made to obtain copies of 
valuable and old oil paintings with ordinary 
plates the results are generally disappointing, but 
by using a chromatic plate in conjunction with a 
colour screen pleasing and satisfactory copies 
can be made. As regards the lens any good 
rectilinear is suitable, and F/16 or F/22 are 
good working apertures. If possible always use 
a yellow screen in copying oil paintings. ‘The 


132 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


main purpose of the yellow screen is to obviate 
the intense reflections from parts of the varnish. 
I have always found a better result when a light 
screen is used than without the same. On the 
other hand, though there may not be much actual 
blue in a picture, there may be greens and green- 
ish blues, which reflect a lot of blue light, and 
if these are accompanied by deep browns and 
reds, the screen would dampen the action of 
the blues and greens, and give the browns and 
reds more time to act. If it is a very old and 
dark coloured picture, always use a deep yellow 
screen, giving a long exposure with it, then 
remove screen and give a short exposure, which 
allows any greens and blues to act. 

The larger one makes the image in copying 
the longer exposure must one give the same stop. 
To make this clear, let us take an example. 
A lens is used on a landscape, the stop employed 
being F/8. ‘The focus of the lens, let us say, is 
eight inches. ‘The distance of the ground-glass 
screen from the lens will be about eight inches 
for all ordinary outdoor work; the nearer 
the object the greater this distance, it is true, 
and with some pictures it may be nine, or even 
ten inches. Still, so far as the exposure is 
concerned, we may regard it as still being eight — 


PHOTOGRAPHING PICTURES 133 


inches, although in these latter cases we are 
in reality using the lens at F/g or F/10, and to 
be strictly accurate we should alter the exposure 
accordingly. However, as already remarked, 
it is not material. When we come to copying, 
however, this difference grows so marked that 
we are bound to take it into consideration. 
In copying a print the same size, for example, 
the distance with the 8-in. lens we have sup- 
posed to be in use would be sixteen inches 
(twice its focal length), and its stop marked 
F/8 is no longer F/8 but F/16. Four times the 
exposure requisite with a true F/8 is therefore 
necessary. Similarly, when copying to get an 
image six times the size of the original (linear), 
the distance of the focussing screen from the 
lens is, approximately, fifty-six inches with an 
8-in. lens, and our stop F/8 has become F/56. 
As F/56 requires just forty-nine times the 
exposure that F/8 demands, we should have to 
give under such circumstances forty-nine times 
as long as with a true F/8. 

It is important to find the correct exposure, 
which may be from five to ten seconds under 
some conditions or from one to sixty minutes 
under others; so much depends on the light, 
lens, stop, and the plate used. For instance, 


134 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


suppose one wished to copy an engraving by 
day in a fairly well-lighted room, with a rapid 
rectilinear lens, using an F/16 stop and a process 
plate, the exposure necessary would be from 
seven to ten seconds, with an ordinary plate 
about five seconds. Again, supposing one was 
copying an old and yellow engraving illuminated 
by one incandescent gas light at a distance of 
twenty inches. Using F/16 stop and, say, an 
Ilford chromatic plate, the correct exposure 
would be five minutes. Under the same 
conditions, but removing the engraving five 
feet from the gas light, the exposure needed 
would be thirty minutes. 

As I have just said, to make a copy of an 
engraving or drawing, the same size as the 
original, the lens must be double its focal 
length from the engraving and also from the 
plate. That is to say, if an 8-in. lens be used, 
the camera must be racked out to sixteen inches 
and the print to be copied must be placed 
sixteen inches in front of the lens. 

When a camera and lens are not available 
there is another way of making a full-sized 
copy of an engraving (if a reversed copy is 
immaterial), that is to expose through the print 
in contact with a sheet of bromide paper, giving 


PHOTOGRAPHING PICTURES 135 


about 24 times the normal exposure required, 
and developing up until the image is nearly 
buried, and reduce the developed image with 
persulphate of ammonia, subsequently re- 
developing in daylight, when a reversed positive 
print results. 

The following is a good developer, and 
particularly suitable for negatives in black and 
white :— 


No. 1. 
Pieatoaumone , . . . .. 80 gf. 
Peeeionite . kw I OS; 
Water tomake upto . . . 10028. 
No. 2. 
Potassium carbonate . . . 4 OZ. 
Potasstum bromide . . . Iogr. 
Watertomake upto . . . I00zs. 


Mix equal parts of Nos. 1 and 2. Negatives 
so made will yield deep black and pure margins 
if printed on smooth slow bromide paper. ‘These 
bromide prints may be developed with the 
hydroquinone-potash given above for the plates, 
but diluted with an equal quantity of water. 
Development should not be continued too long, 
three or four minutes is usually sufficient to 


136 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


obtain all needful contrast ; prolonging develop- 
ment will only produce harsh results or fog. 
If the exposure proves to have been too short 
don’t mess about trying to improve your 
negative, but save time by taking another 
photograph. Don’t have too much light when 
developing, but do with as little as you can 
where chromatic plates are concerned. You 
will not improve your negative by looking at it 
every few seconds to see how it is getting on. 
If your exposure has been right you can almost 
develop your negative in complete darkness by 
using a normal developer and developing for a 
given time. 

In copying engravings, etc., I generally lay 
them on a sheet of plate glass, and after 
thoroughly damping them press with clean 
blotting-paper into contact with the plate 
glass; by doing this one gets a perfectly flat 
surface, and at the same time removes any 
slight irregularity of surface or creases that may 
be in the print. The glass is then stood on 
end for the print to dry, the photograph being 
taken just before the print is quite dry. When 
copying lead-pencil drawings it will be found 
that they will appear brighter in the negative 
and blacker in the photograph if the drawing 


PHOTOGRAPHING PICTURES 137 


is damped before making the exposure. In 
cases where it is not possible to damp the print, 
clamp a sheet of plate glass against the engraving 
or drawing to keep it flat. Should the paper be 
thin and show lettering or other dark marking 
through to the front, this may be minimised 
by placing a sheet of black paper against the 
back of the print when copying it. 

When a drawing or print is mounted or has 
‘printed matter on the back it may be copied by 
the method known as Playertype, as follows. 
Suppose the object to be copied is a pencil 
drawing mounted on a sheet of cardboard. 
First lay on the table some solid, firm object 
having a flat surface, e.g., sheet of metal, 
drawing board, plate glass. Next comes the 
mounted drawing card downwards, drawing 
face upwards. Then a piece of slow bromide 
paper. This is placed film downwards, so 
that the film is in contact with the pencil 
drawing. On the back of the bromide paper is 
laid a sheet of plate glass, so as to press the 
bromide paper into good and even contact with 
the drawing and keep all flat. On the top of 
the clear glass is placed a sheet of green glass. 
Now, at a distance of about fifteen inches to 
eighteen inches over the middle_of the pile, is 


138 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


arranged a No. 5 Heron’s gas burner. ‘The 
exposure is about five to ten minutes. ‘Thus the 
light from the gas-jet passes through the green 
glass, the sheet of plate glass, the bromide paper, 
the film, and on to the surface of the drawing. 
On development the parts of the sensitive film 
in contact with white paper of the drawing 
develop black, while the parts in contact with 
the black marks of the drawing are left white. 
Thus from the positive (drawing) we get a 
contact negative. This is developed, fixed, 
washed, and dried in the usual way, and from 
it by contact a copy positive is made. 

The developer used by Mr. Player is as 
follows :— 


Hydroquinone . .... . 59) eee 
Soda sulphite .  .. . 9. 9en eee 
Pot. hydrate... 9: 430 
Pot. bromide .. . (a eee 
Water.) a. 1 a 


Copies of pencil drawings and engravings 
made by this method are particularly fine; 
the process has not met with the notice and © 
appreciation that it undoubtedly deserves. 

Framed pictures under glass may be copied 
without removing the glass, if necessary, but 


PHOTOGRAPHING PICTURES 139 


care must be taken to clean the glass first and 
avoid reflections, which the glass is almost 
sure to throw. Photographing framed pictures 
should be done by daylight, and the picture 
shaded in some way, so as to neutralise reflec- 
tions. Personally I use collapsible square box- 
shaped screens, with the four sides covered in 
tissue paper. In copying any subjects with 
glossy surfaces one should use a yellow screen, 
for light reflected from glossy surfaces, though 
insufficient to be strongly perceptible to the 
eye, nevertheless exercises a marked effect upon 
the sensitive photographic plate. A screen is 
easily adjusted to the lens and the cost is but 
a trifle. 


CHAPTER XVII 
PICTURE FAKING AND PICTURE FAKERS 


COPY is a reproduction of a work by 

another hand than the original. If a 
master copies his own picture we call it a replica, 
which the French designate by the term 
doublette. Copies are of three kinds. ‘The 
most general are those in which the copyist 
imitates the original with exactitude; in this 
case the difficulty of copying is but slight. 
The second kind is where the copyist avoids 
exact imitation, but renders the original freely 
in its principal traits. ‘These copies, imitations 
in style and colouring, are soon seen to be sham 
or false pictures. ‘The third and most import- 
ant kind of copy is that in which the picture is 
imitated with the freedom of a skilful hand, but 
at the same time with a truthful feeling of the 
original, and with the inspiration of genius, 
finding satisfaction, not in copying, but in an 


imitation little short of creation. 
140 


PICTURE FAKING AND FAKERS 141 


The first kind of copies are those which people 
of taste going to Italy bring home with them ; 
they are very often beautiful copies of beautiful 
originals, and do not assume to be anything 
but what they are, 2.e. copies of genuine, 
recognised chefs d’ceuvres. 

The second, being counterfeits or spurious, 
are generally described by the expressive and 
comprehensive slang term of fakes. 

While in the third we may class the works of 
Michel Angelo, Raphael Sanzio, etc. 

On the revival of painting in Italy, Michel 
Angelo and Raphael in composition and design, 
Titian and Correggio in colouring and light and 
shade, unrestricted to the practice and unop- 
pressed by the reputation of their predecessors, 
arose to a degree of excellence in which they 
have never been equalled, although they have 
been persistently imitated. All small or large 
oil pictures shown as Michel Angelo’s are 
copies from his designs, or cartoons, by Marcello 
Venusti, Giacopo da Pantormo, Battista Franco, 
and Sebastian of Venice. 

Oh, Germany, how much to thee we owe, 
As heaven-born Pitt can testify below, 
Ere cursed confederation made thee France’s 


And only left us thy d d debts and dances ! 
To Germany, what owe we not besides ? 


142 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


Byron might have added faking, for Imhoff, a | 
Nuremberg artist of the sixteenth century, 
turned out the most extraordinary number of 
faked drawings ever known in the annals of 
faking. He maintained a band of copyists, all 
capable of imitating Albert Diirer to perfection. 
Thanks to them, posterity possesses at least 
one duplicate of every picture painted by Direr. 
As for Diirer’s sketches, the forgeries are 
innumerable. After Imhoff’s death, his heirs 
and descendants carried on the business, among 
the master-fakers employed there being Gartner, 
Bonnacker, Johann Ruprecht, Johann Fischer, 
etc. ‘‘ This posthumous school of Diirer,” says 
his biographer, Herr 'Thausing, “ has no analogy 
in the history of art. No other old master— 
not even Raphael—has been exploited by fakers 
in so persistent a fashion as Diirer.”’ 

There was also a print faker in Hamburg 
who specialised in tiny prints—some no bigger 
than a postage stamp—by early engravers, such 
as Aldegraver, Schongauer, etc. Counterfeits 
with such a small compass are almost impossible 
to detect. This Hamburger used to mount his 
fakes on paper torn from old books, on the back 
of which he forged the marks of dealers and 
monograms of collectors through whose hands 
they were supposed to have passed. 


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PICTURE FAKING AND FAKERS 143 


In France the faked drawings industry is a 
most flourishing one, the nineteenth-century 
painters—Prud’hon, Delacroix, Ingres, Corot— 
being the most favourite victims. 'The fakers 
make a point of attending the sales held when a 
great artist dies. Generally, on these occasions, 
everything is sold, and they buy for a trifling 
amount sheets of paper on which the artist has 
made rough sketches or a few pencil marks. 
These may not show any regular design, but 
so long as the paper bears a stamp showing the 
sale or some evidence whence it came, the fakers 
are satisfied, for they have something authentic 
to work upon. Photography is largely utilised 
by fakers incapable of making even a feeble 
pencil sketch. Things have moved since the 
day when Daguerre fixed his pictures on a bit of 
looking-glass. ‘The camera now enables one 
to photograph any drawing—coloured or not— 
so accurately that even an expert can hardly 
distinguish the original from the copy. Aston- 
ishing results are obtained by employing the 
carbon, platinotype, and other processes. From 
one end of Paris to the other one hears the same 
old story, with variations, of collectors being 
imposed upon with early impressions of the 
engravings of Ward and Smith—made in 
Germany. 


144 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


When the Exhibition of Primitives gave a 
vogue to French painters of the fifteenth century, 
the armoury of the fakers was enriched with new 
weapons. ‘They painted upon panels, with a 
golden background, historical scenes bearing 
inscriptions in Gothic letters. Fight shy of 
these Chapters of the Orders of Knighthood, 
State Entries of Sovereigns, etc. They are 
too beautiful to be true. The Germans have a 
way of faking them of such extreme simplicity 
that one marvels it can deceive anybody. 
As many of the Flemish Primitives have been 
chromo-lithographed, these fakers select a 
chromo of some little-known picture and with 
weak paste mount it face downwards on a sheet 
of glass. When dry, the back is rubbed away 
with pumice powder till there remains of the 
chromo only a film as thin as tissue paper. 
This is then soaked off the glass, and while it 
is still damp is pasted with a strong paste and 
then mounted on old canvas or panel. A piece 
of cloth, or several sheets of blotting-paper, are ~ 
then spread on top of the canvas or panel and 
put under pressure, and when dry the chromo 
adheres tightly, showing the grain of the canvas 
or panel. A coat of size, followed by a coat of 
thick varnish and a grimy, worm-eaten frame, 
makes the picture ready for the unwary. 


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PICTURE FAKING AND FAKERS 145 


As regards counterfeit oil paintings, no painter 
is more easily imitated than Greuze. A 
talented painter named Abrier flooded the 
market with pseudo-Greuze under the Second 
Empire. M. Paul Eudel, the erudite student of 
counterfeit art, says that although Abrier’s 
original work was held in high esteem, yet he 
painted little heads 4 la Greuze on old canvases 
and mellowed them with the aid of stains, 
yellow varnishes, and prolonged exposure to 
the sun. ‘Then he would hang one up in his 
studio amid his own paintings and wait for the 
dealer or collector to drop in. 

“Hullo! You’ve got a Greuze ? ”’ the victim 
would say. 

‘““T don’t know whether it is or not.” 

“Oh yes, it’s a Greuze. How much?” 

Abrier would name a big figure. 

“* At a price like that it must be a Greuze.” 

“I’m not so sure. I put a fancy price on 
the picture because I don’t want to part with 
it. That’s all.” 

Then the victim would depart with the canvas, 
and Abrier would take another ravishing head 
by Greuze from a secret cupboard. 

At the present time some of the founders of 
the French modern school are extensively 
copied and faked—Daubigny, who loved the 

L 


146 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


Oise and her charming banks; Diaz, the forest 
painter ; Corot the poetic, the mysterious, le 
Pére, the father of them all. 

James Webb, the marine painter, spoilt his 
reputation by copying Constable. 

Another famous copyist was Jan Griffer, a 
landscape and genre painter, who was born at 
Amsterdam in 1645 and died in London, 1718. 
Griffier was remarkable for his imitations of 
Ruysdael, Sachtleven, Rembrandt, ‘Teniers, 
Elsheimer, Berchem, Lingelbach, Poelenburgh, 
Wouwerman, Salvator Rosa, and others. Many 
of these imitations are said to have been pur- 
chased as originals even in Griffier’s own 
time, particularly those painted in imitation of 
Teniers. 

The following anecdote of the eighteenth- 
century picture fakers is recorded by Mr. Noel 
Desenfans, whose collection is now in the 
Dulwich Gallery. ‘‘ Many pictures,” says Mr. 
Desenfans, ‘‘ have been made to acquire the 
appearance of age, even to a complete decep- 
tion; and I remember, at the commencement 
of my collecting, having purchased some: they 
were offered at a price which induced me to 
buy ; and as the very canvas on which they were 
lined, to prevent their falling into decay, 


PICTURE FAKING AND FAKERS 147 


appeared old, whatever uncertainty I might 
have been in as to their originality, I had not the 
least doubt as to their antiquity. 

“I sent for a picture cleaner, who made use 
of spirits of wine, and in a moment that which 
he worked upon was totally ruined, which made 
the cleaner say, that the pictures had been in the 
Westminster oven. 

“He then informed me that there was in 
Westminster a manufactory where several per- 
sons were employed making copies, which, after 
having been soiled with dirt and varnish, were 
thrown into an oven built on purpose, and 
moderately warmed, where in the course of an 
hour or two they became cracked and acquired 
the appearance of age and a certain stoicity 
the pictures I had bought did not possess, which 
made me conclude they had not been baked 
enough. 

“‘T will venture to assert that many of our 
superficial connoisseurs have been caught, as 
I have been, with this snare, and have preferred 
to the best modern productions those of the 
Westminster oven.” 

Since Mr. Desenfans’ time, fakers have 
invented no new methods—the same old canvas 
on which they make a copy, or better still a 


148 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


medley, an arm from one picture, a face from 
another. When dry, they give it a mellow tone 
with some dark, common varnish or a fine 
varnish coloured with a suitable glazing colour, 
The grime of age is simulated by the aid of 
liquorice juice, and then the picture is baked 
in the sun or, if speed be necessary, in an oven. 
Cracks are made with the point of a needle. 
Some put a metal plate on the canvas and strike 
it with a hammer. ‘The varnish then becomes 
covered with stars. 

Transformation is another trick of their trade. 
It consists in substituting a pretty girl’s face 
for that of a wrinkled old woman. Portraits of 
old ladies are, as a rule, unsaleable and can be 
picked up cheap in the auction room by the 
faker. It sometimes happens these old portraits 
are well painted. ‘The faker’s job is then easy : 
he lowers the high-necked dress, wipes out the 
wrinkles in the face and hand, and cribs some 
portrait of Gainsborough, Romney, Kneller, 
or Lely. Apart from the faker, these painters 
have herds of copyists, not only in their own 
time, but at the present day. It is remarkable, 
but portraits have ever been a favourable subject 
for the faker as well as the legitimate copyist ; 
indeed, Hogarth has recorded that portrait 


PICTURE FAKING AND FAKERS 149 


painting was almost the only branch of art that 
enabled a painter to procure a tolerable living. 

Kneller, the German who was adopted by the 
English, painted nothing but portraits. His 
practice was to paint the heads and hands of his 
pictures only; the draperies, ornaments, and 
backgrounds were put in by English, Dutch, 
and Flemish artists.. It was Sir Godfrey Kneller 
who established in England this practice of 
manufacturing portraits, which enabled him 
and other artists of his time to complete the 
quantity of portraits that, had they relied on 
themselves alone, they could not have accom- 
plished. 

[ have not been able to find a list of Hen names 
of Kneller’s assistants, but he seems to have 
been keen in his search for struggling artists, 
for according to Pilkington, Kneller, on seeing 
one of William Gandy’s portraits and hearing 
of his obscurity in Exeter, would willingly have 
patronised him in London; but Gandy’s 
pride was as great as his talents, and he died in a 
state of poverty. 

While Kneller was painting King Charles’s 
starry gentlemen, his rival Lely, another German 
who had painted a portrait of Charles I., seemed 
to have turned cat in pan, for after the execution 


150 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


of Charles he was called to paint that of the 
Protector, Cromwell, who said to him, ‘* Mr. 
Lely, I desire you will use all your skill to paint 
my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at 
all; but remark all these roughnesses, pimples, 
warts, and everything as you see me, otherwise 
I will never pay you a farthing for it.” After 
the Restoration, Lely was appointed State 
painter to Charles II., who also conferred on 
him the honour of Knighthood. 

Sir Peter Lely’s pupils or assistants were as 
follows, viz. :— 

John Greenhill, Henry Tilson, William Wise- 
ing, Prosper Henry Lankrink, John Baptist 
Gaspars, John Cauder Eyden, Joseph Buck- 
shorn, John Dixon, and Davenport. Pilkington 
tells us that “‘ Lely’s only disciples were Green- 
hill and Buckshorn ; but he appeared so jealous 
of having a rival in either of them, that he would 
not permit them to see in what manner he mixed 
or laid on his colours, nor how he marked and 
distributed them with his pencil; though each 
of them copied the works of their master to 
great perfection.” 

When we find that such artists had the 
nobility for their patrons, and, to crown the 
whole, were appointed painters to the king, it 


PICTURE FAKING AND FAKERS 151 


is not surprising that greater artists turned 
their attention to copying and portrait painting. 

Thomas Gainsborough was from 1760 to 
1768 in the flower of his life and professional 
excellence, and during that period painted a 
series of his very finest pictures ; but they were 
then so under-valued and so rarely purchased, 
even at prices which little more than paid for 
brushes, colours, and canvas, that he would have 
spent his whole life in neglect and indigence, had 
he not made his timely escape from painting 
landscapes and rustic figures and found employ- 
ment in portrait painting. 

Of Gainsborough, Sir Joshua Reynolds said 
that he could copy Vandyck so exquisitely that 
at a certain distance he could not distinguish the 
copy from the original, or the difference between 
them. 

Of Vandyck’s imitators and copyists, the 
following are considered among the best: 
George Jamesone, styled the Vandyck of 
Scotland, who studied in the school of Rubens 
at the same time as Vandyck; Adrian Hanne- 
man, whose copies have been mistaken for 
originals ; James Gandy, a disciple of Vandyck, 
whom he imitated with success, so much so 
that several of his copies of that great master, 


152 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


which were in the Duke of Ormond’s collection, © 
were actually sold as original paintings of 
Vandyck ; and, lastly, John Petitot, who painted 
several portraits after Vandyck, in which he was 
guided by the personal instructions of that great 
master. Vandyck sometimes amused himself 
with engraving, and etched several plates, 
consisting mostly of portraits. Some of these 
have been counterfeited. 


Specinren of cleaning 


CHAPTER XVIII 


PASTELS, CRAYONS, AND CHALKS : METHODS OF 
CLEANING THEM 


ASTEL is the French name for coloured 

crayons, but there is almost as much 
difference between crayons and pastels as there 
is between chalk and cheese; indeed, to a 
certain extent there is a sort of similarity or 
resemblance to cheese in a really good old 
French pastel because of its soft, unctuous feel. 
These old French pastels do not seem to be 
made now, for some of the modern versions 
are far from satisfactory in certain ways. I 
once had the good fortune to pick up a collection 
of old French pastels. It was contained in a 
chest of drawers and consisted of some hundreds 
of colours ranging from the deepest tints to the 
lowest tones. ‘There was no hardness or gritti- 
ness in these pastels ; they were just of the right 
softness to spend and yield freely without 
breaking or crumbling, rubbing on and adhering 


perfectly to the paper. 
T53 


154 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


Chalk is an earthy form of carbonate of lime, 
of an opaque white colour. The application of 
the microscope to the examination of chalk 
brings to light the interesting fact that this 
substance has not had its origin in chemical 
precipitation, since it contains abundance of 
the inorganic remains of marine animals and 
plants, principally the former. 

The chief microscopic constituents of chalk 
are the remains of shells of Foraminifera, 
spicules of sponges, the valves of the diatomacez, 
and peculiar bodies called crystalloids. The 
last-named minute and remarkable bodies form 
the cementing material of chalk. ‘The Fora- 
minifera and similar minute organisms com- 
prised under this title form mountains in the 
Mediterranean regions, and are so abundant 
in fossil deposits that not only all chalk cliffs, 
but even the eternal Pyramids of Egypt may be 
said to be built of them. 

Drawing chalk was originally restricted in its 
colour to white, black, and red. Latterly 
drawing chalks of every colour have come into 
use and are known by the name of crayons. 
Creta Levis is a form of crayon mounted in 
wood. It is said to be clearer than chalk and 
have more softness and delicacy. Work done 


PASTELS, CRAYONS, AND CHALKS 155 


with either of the above-mentioned crayons 
has certainly a soft effect, but such softness is as 
a rule tame and flat. It can hardly be other- 
wise, seeing that for the most part crayons are 
made of soft white clay, coloured with various 
pigments. Although drawings made with 
crayons are usually termed chalk drawings, 
that term is not quite correct, because the chalk 
drawings proper are, strictly speaking, those 
made in the red substance coloured with the 
oxide of iron, as used by Bartolozzi, Sir Thomas 
Lawrence, Watteau, and others, the high lights 
being put in with white chalk. Lord Leighton, 
Whistler, and Walter Greaves, the last of whom 
still survives, used white chalk on brown paper 
for many of theirstudies and sketches for pictures, 
while Daubigny made large and small drawings 
in chalk and charcoal directly from nature. 

Alfred George Stevens, painter, sculptor, and 
designer, the pupil of Thorwaldsen, and the 
most thoroughly educated artist the country 
has seen, made composite studies in red chalk, 
lead pencil, and water-colours. W. F. Settle, 
marine painter to the Royal Scottish Yacht 
Club, made drawings in crayon and water- 
colours combined. 

The French artists have been more successful 


156 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


in their mode of using pastels than those of any 
other nation. Some years ago the “‘ Burlington 
Magazine”? gave a particularly interesting 
account of Jean-Baptiste Perronneau, the pastel- 
list, and examples of his pictures which “ will 
secure his recognition for all time as one of the 
most eminent masters and the most surprising 
colourists of the eighteenth century and even 
of the whole French school.” 

Many people imagine it is not possible to 
clean a pastel drawing. It is, I confess, a 
difficult operation, but by no means impossible. 
Many years ago I purchased some old and 
damaged pastel drawings for experimental 
purposes. ‘They were badly stained by water 
and had evidently been hanging on a damp wall. 
As they were poor specimens and undoubtedly 
copies, they were, comparatively speaking, 
worthless. ‘The colours were damaged by 
rubbing and had become very grubby through 
not having been protected by a glass covering. 
I had, therefore, no fear of spoiling them. ‘They 
were drawn on a kind of fine brown sugar 
paper with a rather rough surface. I don’t 
think they had ever been fixed; at least, I 
found no trace of a fixative. 

The method adopted for cleaning was as 


PASTELS, CRAYONS, AND CHALKS 157 


follows. ‘Taking a sheet of strong drawing 
paper, I laid it on the bottom of an enamelled 
bath, and almost filling the bath with tepid 
water, the pastel drawing was then laid on the 
surface of the water. The reason for doing 
this was, first of all, to get creases out of the 
pastel drawing. As soon as the creases had 
disappeared, the drawing paper at the bottom 
of the bath was lifted gently in such a way that 
the pastel drawing adhered. This should be 
done very carefully in order to prevent the 
face of the pastel from getting wet. In doing 
this the tyro will have some difficulty, but it can 
be surmounted by pinning to the edges of the 
pastel with drawing pins four thin, narrow 
strips of cork. The drawing paper, with the 
pastel still adhering, is then laid on one side 
while a bath of weak bleaching solution is made 
up. When this is quite ready, the drawing 
paper with the pastel is laid on top of the 
bleaching solution, as above described, still 
taking care that the face of the pastel does not 
get wet. A few minutes are allowed to elapse 
for the bleaching solution to permeate the draw- 
ing paper and pastel, after which they are lifted 
from the bleaching solution. This should be 
thrown away and the bath quickly filled with 


158 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


clear water, upon which the drawing paper and 
pastel are again laid. ‘The drawing-paper sup- 
port is then gently disengaged from the pastel 
and allowed to sink to the bottom of the bath. 
A piece of rubber tubing from the water tap is 
then inserted beneath the pastel, and water is 
allowed to flow very gently in at one end of the 
bath and out at the other till any froth or scum 
of the bleaching solution has been removed 
from the bottom of the pastel. When this has 
been done, the pastel is lifted from the bath 
and laid on a sheet of plate glass. The back 
of the pastel is then examined to see that all 
stains have been removed, after which the pastel 
is again put on the top of the water for the 
final rinsing. When this is completed, the bath 
is tilted so that the water can run away and 
leave the pastel on the drawing-paper support. 
Now comes one of the most difficult and impor- 
tant items of the whole process. Hitherto the 
water has not been allowed to pass over the face 
of the pastel, but as it is lays flat on the bottom 
of the bath, water is allowed to flow over or 
flood the pastel very gently for a few seconds. 
The pastel is then lifted by its support and laid 
on the work table. In the “ drying off ” and 
indeed throughout the whole process of cleaning 


PASTELS, CRAYONS, AND CHALKS 159 


it is advisable that the front surface of the pastel 
drawing be not touched by the fingers or blotting- 
paper. Sheets of clean white blotting-paper 
are spread out and the pastel finally laid upon 
them to dry, when it will be ready for any 
retouching that may be necessary. In re- 
touching, don’t attempt to match certain tints 
by mingling several colours together; it is 
much the better plan to get the exact tint. To 
do this it is necessary to procure a colour chart 
from a pastel maker. By comparing the colour 
chart with the pastel, the tints needed are 
easily recognised and their numbers noted. 
By selecting colours in this way a good working 
collection is got together and the eye is trained 
in matching. | 
Pastel pictures are often said to have too 
- soft and mealy a look, and to be likely to fade 
as time elapses or moulder by the natural 
disintegration of the chalk. Part of this state- 
ment is perhaps true as regards a slight fading 
of some of the colours. The mealy look is 
generally due either to the drawing having 
been rubbed or to its not having been properly 
fixed. As regards the fading by time, any 
fading that may occur is almost an added 
charm and gives, more or less, a certain mellow- 


160 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


ness of age, for thus all precious things are 
dimmed by the years, but nevertheless there is 
still a lasting loveliness which is always pleasing 
to the eye. The great, and one might almost 
say the only, enemy of pastel drawings is damp 
and mildew, for pastels seem naturally sus- 
ceptible to damp; but if care is taken to keep 
them in a dry position in a well-ventilated room, 
out of the direct rays of sunlight, little or no 
harm can happen to them, and there is no need 
to fix them. 

I am inclined to think that, in some cases at 
any rate, where mildew has occurred in pastels 
it is owing to the fact that before making a 
crayon or pastel drawing some artists give the 
paper two or three coats of size, and when dry 
make the drawing. After the drawing is made 
it is held a slight distance from the spout of a 
kettle of boiling water, whereupon the size and 
crayon (or pastel) combine, fixing the drawing. 
This is not the best method of fixing, for several 
reasons. In the first place, unless done very 
carefully, the work will look patchy; and, 
secondly, if damp gets into the picture, it will 
act upon the size and start mildew. 

There are many fixatives for pastels sold by 
artists’ colourmen. One of the best I have 


PASTELS, CRAYONS, AND CHALKS 161 


found is of French preparation, but it has to be 
applied very carefully with a sprayer or vapori- 
ser. It is not much use attempting the fixing 
process with the sprayer fitted with a mouth- 
piece whereby the fixative is blown over the 
_ surface of the pastel. Like the kettle process 
above described, the result is generally patchy. 
The best method I have found is to procure a 
barber’s sprayer or vaporiser, fitted with a kind 
of bag-like rubber bellows. With this apparatus 
a fine and continuous spray can be played all 
over the pastel. The bottle containing the 
fixative is held in the left hand, and the rubber 
bellows manipulated with the right hand, while 
the pastel stands on the easel. It is very 
important that the vaporiser be kept quite 
clean, and directly after use it should be 
thoroughly cleaned with methylated spirits and 
a piece of wadding or cotton wool. 

At the beginning of this chapter I mentioned 
that the exceedingly minute shells of the 
Foraminifera, diatoms, etc., are composed 
principally of carbonate of lime, and, in conse- 
quence, effervesce copiously when a dilute 
acid is added to them. Under no circumstances, 
therefore, should acid be put upon or allowed 


to come near a pastel drawing, or it will be ruined. 
M 


162 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


I mention this fact because acid is sometimes: 
recommended to take out certain stains. 

Pastel paper is frequently pasted upon linen 
before the drawing is made. ‘This is not only 
unnecessary, but harmful. A good strong 
suitable paper with a “tooth” or surface to 
take the pastels is best stretched or drummed 
on a light wood strainer. When the drawing 
is finished and fixed it should be covered with 
patent plate glass bound to the wooden strainer 
with strips of waterproof paper in the manner 
of a passe partout. 


CHAPTER XIX 


NEW METHODS OF RESTORING: THE CLEANING 
AND RESTORATION OF MUSEUM EXHIBITS 


UCH has been said from time to time 
4 in the public press concerning the manner 
in which science can help in the restoration and 
preservation of prints exhibited in such places 
as the British Museum, but in the report by 
Dr. Alexander Scott on new methods of treat- 
ment which have been worked out, there is not 
much that is new. 
In this report, issued by His Majesty’s 
Stationery Office, we are told :— 
* (a) “ The appearance of brown or other 
coloured spots all over the paper on which 
drawings have been made is a constant source 
of anxiety to those who have the custody of 
drawings and prints. ‘This anxiety is naturally 
increased when these have been coloured in 
any way, especially when the pigments employed 
are unknown. 


(5) “ In the case of engravings and etchings 
163 


164 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


in which the basis of the picture is printers’ ink 
or carbon in some form or other, retained in its 
place by a medium of an oily or greasy nature, 
the judicious use of bleaching agents which 
owe their action to oxidising or reducing the 
colouring matters and stains, may restore the 
paper to its original tint or render it even whiter 
than it was originally. To avoid weakening 
or destruction of the paper the solutions used 
should be very dilute—say from 4 to 1 per cent. 
If bleaching powder and hydrochloric acid are 
used one fluid ounce of the concentrated acid 
in a quart of water is ample for all ordinary 
cases, and from a quarter to half an ounce of 
good bleaching powder to the same quantity 
of water ; the mixture of bleaching powder and 
water need not be filtered. 

(c) ‘‘ The best procedure is to immerse the 
prints in the hydrochloric acid for 10 to 20 
minutes, and, without washing, place them at 
once in the bleaching-powder solution for an 
equal length of time; again transfer to the 
hydrochloric acid without washing. If not 
thoroughly bleached, repeat until no further 
improvement is observed, when the prints must — 
be thoroughly washed in ordinary water for 
some hours. 


NEW METHODS OF RESTORING 165 


“A small quantity of sodium sulphite may 
with advantage be added to the water before 
finishing the washing to remove every trace of 
free chlorine. 

(d) “Instead of bleaching powder the so- 
called ‘ solution of chlorinated soda’ may be 
used. ‘This is sometimes too alkaline, and, if 
so, may render the paper dangerously soft and 
tender from the solution of the sizein the paper.”’ 

All the methods recommended in the above 
report are fully treated and explained earlier 
in this work. There objection is raised to 
the use of hydrochloric acid, as daily experience 
teaches us that there are dangers attached to its 
use. ‘To take only one instance, for example, 
the pouring of hydrochloric acid upon an India 
paper print and then transferring it to the 
bleaching-powder solution. In doing this the 
India paper would be almost certain to leave 
the plate paper, and even if it did not do so the 
whole surface would be more or less covered 
with blisters. 

The report adds that: (e) “the coloured 
spots are almost invariably due to the growth 
of mildew and moulds, or similar organisms, 
the spores of which have been in the paper from 
the time of its manufacture or which have 


166 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


settled on the paper from the atmosphere. 
They germinate and grow, deriving their nutri- 
ment chiefly from the materials used as size, 
such as gelatine and albuminous substances. 
For this germination and growth of such moulds 
and bacteria, a high content of water vapour 
in the atmosphere seems to be an essential 
condition. Hence it is that drawing papers 
which have been taken ‘to seaside places or 
which have been stored in underground railways 
have shown such marked deterioration. A 
return to a dry atmosphere in the majority of 
cases seems enough to arrest the various 
growths, but until means have been found to 
kill the spores and the various growths the 
prints cannot be considered safe. Observations 
are being made with various preservative and 
antiseptic agents by means of which it is hoped 
to destroy the spores and growths, and so 
preserve the paper and the pictures on it from 
further injury. Needless to say that solutions 
of such agents as corrosive sublimate are 
inadmissible, as being of too dangerous a 
character for use with delicate colours, but 
thymol and similar substances, aided by a 
gentle rise in temperature, seem to promise 
good results. Formaldehyde (‘ formalin ’) 


NEW METHODS OF RESTORING 167 


would no doubt act, but, from its constitution 
and chemical activity, can hardly come under 
the category of undoubtedly ‘ safe’ re-agents 
for this purpose until it has been very carefully 
tested. From the purely chemical point of 
view it may easily pass to formic acid, the 
presence of which may prove dangerous to 
many colours.” 

The treatment and removal of mildew, moulds, 
etc., was gone into at length in a former chapter, 
but I might note in passing that a bath of dis- 
tilled water, followed by a weak bath of formalin, 
after which a thorough washing, would in 
the case of a print or black lead-pencil drawing, 
remove all trace of mildew and do no harm; 
on the contrary it would tend to strengthen and 
restore the texture of the paper and allow of its 
being pressed with a fairly hot iron. As black 
lead, plumbago, or graphite, is a species of 
carbon, and contains traces of iron, silica, and 
alumina, it is impervious to water, and by sub- 
mitting it to the action of a hot iron it would 
acquire greater firmness, and a more brilliant 
colour or lustre. 

The report further states that : (f) ‘‘ In many 
drawings and coloured pictures of all kinds the 
white portions are rendered or intensified by 


168 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


means of white lead or lead carbonate (ceruse). 
In an ordinary city atmosphere, although it 
may contain at any one time only minute 
quantities of sulphuretted hydrogen, these 
whitened parts will in time become discoloured 
and finally quite black, owing to the conversion 
of the white carbonate into black sulphide of 
lead. It has long been known that by means 
of a solution of hydrogen peroxide the black 
sulphide may be oxidised into the white sul- 
phate of lead and the original whiteness restored. 
To apply such a solution to the great majority 
of drawings or water-colour paintings would 
almost certainly have disastrous results, even 
if the solution contained no other substances. 
Solutions of hydrogen peroxide are liable to 
contain sulphuric and phosphoric acids and 
also salts of barium. All these may be regarded 
as most objectionable impurities when con- 
sidering the treatment of prints. By preparing 
a flat block of stucco, by casting plaster of 
Paris in a simple mould and then drying the 
block, we have a means of applying hydrogen 
peroxide in vapour, and therefore free from 
the impurities with which its solution may be 
contaminated. By distributing as uniformly 
as possible over the surface of the block a small 


NEW METHODS OF RESTORING 169 


quantity of a concentrated solution of hydrogen 
peroxide an active surface is obtained. On 
placing a blackened print face downwards at a 
distance of an eighth of an inch or so, the hydro- 
gen peroxide which comes off will restore the 
whiteness almost to its pristine purity in the 
course of a few hours (see Fig. 1 in the report). 
This treatment is also applicable to many of the 
mouldy spots (‘ foxiness ’), as it tends to bleach 
their colour and render them much less apparent 
and disfiguring. ‘This requires a much longer 
time than the whitening of lead sulphide 
(see Fig. 2 in the report). 

The method above recommended might be 
all very well for a postage stamp or a print of 
philatelic proportions, but hardly seems suitable 
for such prints as, for instance, Landseer’s 
““ Laying Down the Law ” or “ Bolton Abbey.” 
An inordinate amount of labour would be 
entailed in making a waste mould and the cast 
of plaster of Paris, to say nothing of the cost of 
best plaster (“‘ super super, I think is what the 
Italians of Hatton Garden call it ”’). 

The report still further states that: (g) 
‘Drawings and prints not infrequently are 
stained and disfigured by oils and varnishes 
which have accidentally been spilt upon them, 


170 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


and these stains, although originally transparent 
and colourless, in time acquire a brown tint 
more or less dark. Such stains do not yield 
to any of the ordinary bleaching agents or even 
to any of the usual paint-removing solvents. 
As the coloured material might be in the main 
oxidised oils, and therefore probably of a more 
or less acidic nature, it was resolved to try a 
strong anhydrous base, pyridine. This was 
applied by means of a brush of silky glass fibre, 
and the liquid after a short time was removed 
by pure white blotting-paper. After several 
applications of the pyridine and the blotting- 
paper, large stains were so greatly weakened 
that their presence would not be detected by a 
casual observer, although if sought for could be 
found without much difficulty. The drawing 
treated was by Watteau, and the stains probably 
dated from the time of the drawing (1710-1720). 
The removal of the stain, which was about 
an inch in diameter, revealed some rough 
sketches on the back of the paper which had 
previously been hidden by the stain. 

“The pyridine (which must be colourless 
and dry) very rapidly evaporates and leaves 
the paper undamaged in toughness. When the 
paper is free from the smell of the pyridine it 


NEW METHODS OF RESTORING 171 


may safely be concluded that all has evaporated.” 
And so ends the report. 

In examining the specimens given in Dr. 
Scott’s report I cansee no striking improvement ; 
on the contrary, so far as one can judge from 
the process—block illustrations—the drawings 
treated seem to have lost some of their original 
details. | 

As regards the pyridine recommended, I 
suppose it is the volatile liquid alkaloid obtained 
from dry distillation of bone-oil, and used in 
_ medicine for asthma, but having no knowledge 
of this alkali, I am not qualified to comment 
on its action with drawings and prints. Suffice 
to say that after experience of more than forty- 
five years I am still content with old methods 
which I have set out in this work, and as they 
seldom fail they 


‘Make us rather bear those ills we have 
Than fly to others that we know not of.” 


CHAPTER XX 
THE CARE OF PICTURES AND DRAWINGS 


IRST and foremost in the care of oil 

paintings, the question of covering them 
with glass is one on which there is much 
difference of opinion. Many are unfavourable 
to glazing, partly as interfering with the view 
of pictures, partly as tending to impede the 
circulation of air essential to their preservation. 
Be this as it may, one thing is perfectly certain— 
that wherever glass is used in public galleries 
for protecting oil paintings from noxious 
deposits I have invariably found that pictures 
so protected were in far finer condition than~ 
unprotected ones. Indeed, one might say that 
if some masterpieces which have mouldered 
away into oblivion had been protected by glass 
we should have had them now, more or less in 
their pristine beauty, showing blue hills and the 
delicate pomp of summer skies with their golden 
moods and purple splendours, a little dimmed 
by the years, but still of very lasting loveliness. 

172 


CARE OF PICTURES AND DRAWINGS 173 


Many pictures in certain collections are little 
more than blank spaces of darkness except for 
an occasional high light which looms through 
the surrounding gloom. It is folly to imagine 
that these examples, for instance, of Italian 
painters were ever originally so produced. 
On the contrary, light, which has so much 
force in pictures that therein consists almost 
the whole grace thereof, was a great feature with 
the Italians. As examples of the art of exquisite 
effects of light together with the colours we 
may take almost any piece by Raphael, Da 
Vinci, Correggio, or Titian. It is said of the 
last named that to make known his art in 
lights and shadows he would express the lightest 
part of the body by adding a little too much 
white, making it much lighter than his model, 
and in the obscure parts, where the light fell 
by reflection, a little too much shadow, in 
resemblance of the falling off of the light in that 
part of the body. Consequently, Titian’s work 
has the appearance of being much raised, and 
deceives the sight. 

Others have painted their principal figure 
in bold relief against a marble column, while 
its chromatic value is enhanced by the opposi- 
tion of a dull crimson tunic worn by a negro 


174 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


boy. Again, the liberal use of white in the 
architectural features of pictures of the 
fifteenth- and sixteenth-century masters con- 
tributes very largely to their success and forms 
an admirable foil for the rich colours used in 
Venetian costumes. 

If, therefore, the masters who produced these 
superb pictures were so particular in their 
production, we who inherit them ought certainly 
to be careful as to the best means of preserving 
such priceless objects from deterioration or 
decay. A few notes regarding the care and 
cleansing of pictures may be of interest. 

The term “ picture cleaning,” in its more 
familiar sense, indicates the removal, by various 
chemical processes, of the old varnishes or 
incrustations by which a painting may be 
obscured. There are, however, other opera- 
tions connected with picture-cleaning which 
consist in the mere wiping, dusting, or other- 
wise slightly cleansing of the surface of a picture. 
These, though they do not require any very 
great skill, nor entail any risk, are nevertheless 
important, inasmuch as due attention to them 
tends to the preservation of pictures, and may 
obviate the necessity of cleaning in the larger 
sense of the word. 


CARE OF PICTURES AND DRAWINGS 175 


As regards the mere wiping or dusting to 
remove any dust and dirt lying on the surface 
of a picture, this may be done with a 3-inch or 
4-inch broad varnish brush or old silk hand- 
kerchief. For the removal of chill or bloom, 
as it is technically called, which arises from 
varnish, particularly from pure mastic varnish, 
and gives a dull, filmy look to the surface of a 
picture, various methods have been from time 
to time recommended. Those commonly in 
use are friction with a silk handkerchief or wash 
leather, and the application of a damp sponge 
or a moistened pad of cotton wool, after which 
the picture is wiped with a soft cloth, and 
subsequently when dry, rubbed to a polish 
with a silk handkerchief. 

It appears, from the Report of the National 
Gallery, that “ with regard to the application 
of water to the surface of a picture, various 
opinions have been expressed. When a picture 
is painted on wood, with a tendency to chip, 
water, it is said, cannot safely be used, because 
subsequent rubbing might tear up some of the 
particles which are disposed to chip off. Again, 
in cases where the surface of a picture offers 
any fissures in the varnish, into which the water 
can penetrate, it may, if incautiously applied, 


176 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


occasion blistering, and lay the foundation of 
future decay. Where the painting is on an 
absorbent ground, the risk of such mischief is 
increased. It has also been stated that some 
painters occasionally used water-colours in 
finishing their pictures, and, consequently, any 
cracks in the varnish would here render water 
destructive.” 

From experience I must say that the applica- 
tion of water in any case is injudicious and 
hazardous. 

One of the best methods for the removal of 
“chill” or “bloom” and _ restoring the 
brilliancy of varnish is to take a piece of new 
flannel and, carefully folding it so as to form a 
soft pad, proceed to rub softly over the whole 
surface of the painting with a circular motion. 
After the chill or bloom is removed, finish by 
polishing with an old silk handkerchief. 

Besides attending to the fronts of pictures, 
some means should be adopted to preserve the 
backs from the accumulation of dust and other 
impurities continually deposited on them. It 
is extraordinary what these accumulations some- 
times consist of. I have found cards, private 
memoranda, holly and mistletoe berries, various 
insects and verminous deposits of filth which 


CARE OF PICTURES AND DRAWINGS 177 


were injuring the pictures. To obviate this 
state of things the backs of pictures should be 
protected, or should at least once a year be 
relieved of the dust or impurities which they 
may have contracted. 

Pictures should not be tilted forward, but 
hung upright against the wall, so that dust may 
not accumulate upon their backs. 

It is a good plan to have a small piece of cork 
at the four corners of a picture frame so as to 
allow for ventilation and prevent any injury 
to the picture in the case of damp walls. 
Another good plan is to cover the backs of oil 
paintings with water-proof brown paper. Apply 
as follows: Cut a piece of water-proof paper 
slightly smaller than the outside size of the 
picture frame. Slightly damp the brown paper 
on the plain side. Paste all round about an 
inch of the margin of the water-proof side and 
then stick it on to the picture frame so that the 
water-proof side is next to the painting. ‘The 
paper will then dry taut and protect the painting 
from the accumulation of dirt, etc. 

While on this subject I may point out that 
before framing up a picture, the moulding 
can be given a coat of sulphate of copper. If 


this is done the copper penetrates the pores 
N 


178 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


of the wood and is retained by the resinous 
matter present, and thereby the attacks of 
insects are prevented. 

The stretchers of canvases should be looked 
to from time to time. Should any wedges be 
missing, new ones should be supplied and 
gently tapped so as to keep the canvas taut. 

A few words are necessary as to the mounting 
of water-colour drawings. ‘The back of the 
paper on which a drawing is made should not 
come into contact with anything but a best 
quality mounting board; even then it should 
only be laid upon it and fixed by a small 
quantity of fine paste run round the margins. 

Glue or gum should never be used on either 
the back or front of a water-colour. Gum 
water is frequently used to heighten the 
colours, but this is a bad plan and will ruin them 
in time. However pure gum may be, the light, 
heat, or moisture will act upon it in time, causing 
one or other of the following defects, viz. a kind 
of bronzy sheen, cracking or peeling of the gum, 
mildew, or else fading of the colours. 

When the glass of a water-colour drawing 
becomes cracked it should be replaced immedi- 
ately with a new one, or the fumes of the sulphur 
contained in coal smoke or gas fumes will 


CARE OF PICTURES AND DRAWINGS 179 


penetrate the crack and leave a mark which 
is very difficult to remove. ‘To clean a water- 
colour a piece of new bread or dough is far 
better than india rubber. 

As pastels contain only a little binding 
material, drawings made with them are durable 
_and the colours do not fade, but they must be 
protected by glass and not exposed to damp, 
otherwise the paper will mildew and the painting 
become spotted with various coloured mould. 
Fixing is often recommended for pastels, but 
whatever fixative is used and however carefully 
it may be sprayed upon the pastel, experience 
proves that the delicacy and bloom of the 
colours is lowered in tone. 


CHAPTER XXI 
ABOUT OLD POTTERY 


F the vestiges of the primeval tribes by 

which Britain was occupied we have very 
few beyond flint arrow-heads, celts, and scrapers. 
Little or no pottery, for 


‘“‘ Geological evidence goes 
To prove he had never a pan, 
But shaved with a shell when he chose, 
’*Twas the manner of Primitive Man ! 


He worshipp’d the rain and the breeze, 
He worshipped the river that flows, 

And the Dawn, and the Moon, and the trees, 
And bogies, and serpents, and crows; 

He buried his dead with their toes 
Tucked up, an original plan, 

Till their knees came right under their nose, 
*Twas the manner of Primitive Man!” 


In the primitive mode of sepulture alluded 
to by Andrew Lang in the above ballad, the 
hands were raised to support the head, the palm 
of each hand resting against the lower part of 


the face. This mode of burial is supposed to 
180 


ABOUT OLD POTTERY 181 


have been adopted by our warlike ancestors 
because of an idea prevalent even long after 
the Christian era that it was unworthy of a chief 
or warrior to die in his bed. 

Although most of the urns of the pre-historic 
period are of the coarsest manufacture, in shape 
far from classical, and with no pretension to 
decoration beyond a profusion of scratchings 
without method or design, it is quite possible 
that the Britz, or Britons, got their first idea of 
making pottery from the Greeks, who made 
trading voyages here long before the birth of 
Christ, and improved their designs when the 
Romans came to stay. 

Although Julius Czsar made no conquest of 
Britain, the Romans under Claudius obtained a 
footing which the Britons were unable to 
resist; and from this time onward several of 
the Emperors were themselves in Britain, 
notably Severus and Constantius Chlorus, who 
died: at York. The Roman occupation con- 
tinued till the time of Honorius, when the 
inroad of Alaric and the Vandals into Italy 
caused the recall of the Roman legions in 
Britain, never to return. 

For many things we have to thank the armed 
legions of Rome who first trod our island as 


182 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


invaders; they came not alone as conquerors, 
but fulfilled in reality and fact a far higher and 
nobler mission. They brought to the derra 
incognita of Britain, “‘ to the isle surrounded by 
sea, beyond Gaul,” and to its painted denizens, 
not alone the arms, but the arts of civilisation. 
Surrounded by the all-sufficient force of dis- 
cipline, they were the still more powerful 
possessors of knowledge, and opposed to the 
naked bodies of the Britons, the fierce valour 
of our forefathers only availed to render the 
slaughter of the English warriors more general 
and complete. But subjugation of the land 
was yet a greater gain to the conquered than 
to the conquerors. From sunny Italy they 
brought the arts of peace. Roads soon 
stretched across the breadth and along the 
length of the land, teaching ¢:.e power of con- 
centrated exertion, and bestowing the advantages 
of internal traffic and communication. Houses, 
fortifications, and streets were constructed with 
such powers of durability that even to our day 
may portions here and there be traced out 
owing their firm foundations to the Roman era. 
The Romans derived the potter’s art in the 
first place from the Etruscans, and afterwards 
from the Greeks, but cannot be said to have 


ABOUT OLD POTTERY 183 


greatly excelled in the plastic art, for, being a 
ruling people, their martial propensities made 
them consider the culture of the arts as a 
profession worthy only of slaves, freed men, 
or of strangers whom they had subdued. But 
when the Romans became acquainted with 
the beautiful works of Greece and Asia, a taste 
for them was developed, and excited the emula- 
tion of the Roman artists, and they succeeded 
in producing some very beautiful works. The 
Greeks evinced a predilection for the nude, 
but the Romans exhibited a decided taste for 
draped figures. This requirement of Roman 
_ taste was very unfavourable to the development 
of the beauty of art. The figures seldom 
trespass against the rules of design, but they are 
deficient in elegance; they seldom bespeak 
either genius or elevation of mind in the artist. 
The ideal which is the soul of Greek composition, 
is never perceived in that of the Romans; and 
art began gradually to decline from the time of 
Septimus Severus. 

Whatever doubts may exist as to the Romano- 
British manufacture of Samian ware, there can 
be no question that coarser kinds of pottery 
were produced on a large scale in this country 
during the Roman occupation. 


184 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


Anyone who has sailed up the Medway will 
have observed that the left bank of the river, 
a little above Sheerness, consists of low, flat 
ground, cut by the water into innumerable 
little creeks, and at high water almost buried 
by the sea. This is called the Halstow and 
Upchurch marshes. In the time of the Romans 
the channel of the river appears to have been 
here much narrower, and the “ marshes ” 
had not been encroached upon by the sea as 
they are now. If we go up the little creeks in 
the Upchurch marshes at low water, and observe 
the sides of the banks, we shall soon discover, 
at the depth of about three feet, more or less, 
a stratum, often a foot thick, of broken pottery. 
This is especially observable in what is called 
Otterham Creek, and also in Lower Halstow 
Creek, where it may be traced continuously 
in the banks, and may be brought up by hand- 
fuls from the clay in the bed of the creek. ‘This 
immense layer of broken pottery has been 
traced at intervals through an extent of six or 
seven miles in length, and two or three in 
breadth, and there cannot be the least doubt 
that it is the refuse of very extensive potteries, 
which probably existed during nearly the whole 
period of the Roman occupation of Britain. 


ABOUT OLD POTTERY 185 


Large quantities of Roman and medieval 
antiquities were discovered in the excavations 
for the General Post Office in St. Martins-le- 
Grand, Temple Bar, Tower Hill, and numerous 
other parts of London. They consisted mostly 
of Samian and Early English pottery, together 
with coins, glass, and other objects, recovered 
from depths varying from ten to twenty feet 
from the surface level. In these and other 
discoveries made on Roman sites and stations 
in this country red and black pottery is among 
the most frequent of the objects found. 

Between the middle of the seventeenth 
century and its close commenced the manu- 
facture of the fine earthenware, which, without 
attaining the excellence of porcelain, constituted 
a great improvement on the previous products 
of this industry. 

The establishment of the Potteries in Stafford- 
shire originated from the circumstance of a 
strata of good plastic clay being found there in 
immediate juxtaposition with the coal necessary 
for its conversion into the fabricated article. 

Before the commencement of Wedgwood’s 
labours the English pottery produced wares 
flimsy in their materials, grotesque in their 
forms, and utterly destitute of correct taste in 


186 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


their ornamentation, being miserable copies of 
the Chinese porcelain. Owing to the influence 
of the enterprise and genius of Wedgwood, the 
style and character of the ceramic manufacture 
of the country was thoroughly reformed, so 
that not only have the productions of Stafford- 
shire, Derbyshire, Worcestershire, London, and 
other places where this industry has been 
established, superseded foreign goods in the 
home market, but they have spread over the 
whole civilised world. 

Until the Paris Exhibition of 1867 very little 
was known of Japanese art. As the articles 
at this Exhibition were for sale, and passed into 
the hands of collectors all over Europe at 
comparatively small prices, it will always remain 
a matter for regret that no descriptive catalogue 
was prepared of this superb collection, and as 
no one appears to have visited Japan for the 
express purpose of investigating the arts and art 
thoughts of its inhabitants, it is very likely 
that at no very distant date, owing to the great 
changes which modern civilisation, modern 
intercourse, earthquakes, and wars have lately 
made and are making every day, but little will 
be found remaining of the art works of ‘ Old 
Japan,” the 


~~ 


ABOUT OLD POTTERY 187 


“ Land that mused while the world was striving ! 
Land that dreamed while the nations fought !”’ 


Yet thou hast risen and conquered, 

Thou dost stand, armed as a modern People 

In the front rank—and yet I say alas! 

Who could have wished, in waking thou shouldst spurn 
The wondrous rightness of thy sheltered past ? 

To be as others are thou seem’st to yearn, 

And for mere useful ugliness dost cast 

For ever from thee beauties unsurpassed. 


Dr. Kempfer, one of the oldest and best 
authorities on Japan, writing at the close of the 
seventeenth century, says, “as to all sorts of 
handicrafts, the Japanese are wanting neither 
proper materials nor industry and application, 
and so far is it that they should have any 
occasion to send for masters abroad, that they 
rather exceed all other nations in ingenuity 
and neatness of workmanship.” : 

The Chinese have always been too conserva- 
tive to change or learn from others, while the 
Japanese, ever ready to benefit from the superior 
knowledge of those with whom they were 
brought in contact, readily adopted what little 
the Chinese or Coreans could teach them and 
put upon the borrowed ideas their own impress. 
In most instances of ornamental art the Japanese 
are superior to the Chinese, and their taste is 


188 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


more correct and refined than that displayed 
by the artists of the Celestial Empire; never- 
theless, the wares of China are more fashionable 
now and fetch very high prices, but I cannot 
help thinking that a time will come when the 
old wares of Japan, which at the present time 
may often be picked up for a song, will command 
high prices too. Apart from this it should 
be remembered that rooms, large, lofty, or even 
small-proportioned ones, are dignified by art 
treasures whether Chinese or slender Japanese 
pieces; and arranged with taste never fail to 
give almost any room an appearance of dignified © 
calm. | 

The Japanese generally repair their art 
pottery with a gold lacquer, but this does not 
look so neat as repairs made with one of the 
many cements sold for the purpose. The first 
thing to be done is to clear all the edges of dust 
and dirt. They should then be brushed over 
with a solution of patent size to stop suction. 
As soon as this is dry the fragments are ready 
for the cement, which should be applied thinly 
with a camel-hair brush and the pieces pressed 
tightly together. They should then be laid 
by in a warm place to dry. If there are a large 
number of pieces, do not try to join up too 


ABOUT OLD POTTERY 189 


many at one time, because in pressing one part 
another may become dislocated. If there are 
any fragments missing these may be made good 
with superfine plaster of Paris. A sixpenny bag 
procured at one of the plaster shops in or about 
Leather Lane, Holborn, will repair dozens of 
pieces. Plaster of Paris should be kept in a tin 
canister and stored in a dry place. When 
making any repairs proceed as follows: With 
a hog-hair brush damp round the edges of the 
parts to be made good. ‘Then take a small 
quantity of the plaster of Paris and put it into 
a tea-cup and mix with water till about the 
consistency of thick batter. With an old 
teaspoon or a bone mustard spoon take up 
a small quantity of the wet plaster and build or 
model in the missing parts roughly. In a few 
minutes the plaster will set and harden some- 
what. While in this condition it can be pared 
and cut away to the shape of the repaired article. 
If not smooth enough, it can be further smoothed 
with a piece of wet sand-paper and then put 
by for a day or two to get quite hard dry, when 
it will be ready for any decoration. Before 
doing any decoration the parts that have been 
made good should be painted with boiled oil, 
and when this has dried in the missing parts 


190 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 


may be matched and touched in with oil-colours 
and varnished. An excellent varnish may be 
made for this purpose by putting an ounce of 
copal of an amber colour, finely powdered, 
into a glass flask containing four ounces of 
ether ; corking the mixture with a glass stopper, 
and shaking it for half an hour; then allowing 
it to rest till the liquor becomes clear. 

The great volatility of ether, and its very 
high price, do not allow the use of this varnish 
for ordinary purposes. It has some admirable 
properties which belong to no other varnish. 
It presents great resistance to the friction of 
hard bodies, possesses remarkable solidity, 
has a peculiar drying quality, and a very 
fragrant odour. 

Another finish for repaired china and pottery 
is soluble glass—a thick syrupy liquid made by 
melting together sodium carbonate and siliceous 
sand. It may be mixed with water, and if 
painted over repairs is decomposed by the 
action of the carbon dioxide in the air, a film 
of silica or silicate being left, forming a hard 
protective surface or enamel on the china. 

Formerly broken china and porcelain was 
repaired with rivets. They were of little use 
as regards strengthening the plate and withal 


ABOUT OLD POTTERY IQI 


very unsightly. By far the best method is to 
join the broken parts with a strong cement, 
and if the joint is properly made there is not 
the slightest fear of its coming apart. 

_ A good cement for broken china or glass. Soak 
isinglass in water till it is soft, then dissolve 
It in the smallest possible quantity of proof 
spirit, by aid of a gentle heat. In 2 ounces of 
this mixture dissolve 10 grains of ammoniacum, 
and whilst in a liquid state add half a drachm 
of mastic, dissolved in 3 drachms of rectified 
spirits; stir well together and put into small 
bottles. 

Liquefy the cement by standing the bottle in 
hot water, using it directly on the edges of 
the broken article. ‘The great point is to press 
the parts very tightly together; after this has 
been done it is not a bad idea to wind some fine 
twine round the broken parts where it is 
possible till the joint-is hard dry. Another 
useful thing when repairing valuable china is 
a linen bag, filled with dry sand. This when 
placed on an ornament or vase which needs 
even pressure can be easily adjusted to the 
contour of the article by applying. slight 
pressure to the bag 


INDEX 


ABBREVIATIONS, signs, 
used in formule, 91 
Abrier (talented French artist) 

forged Greuze, 145 
Acid, acetic, 46, 47 
arsenious, 45 
—— carbolic, 80, 127 
—— chromic, 77 
— hydrochloric, 36, 45 
—— muriatic, 74 


etc., 


oxalic, 51 

phosphoric, 77 

pyroligneous, 46 

sulphuric, 80 

Acids, their use in restoration, 
73; properties of, 76. (For 
details of various acids see 

’ Chap. IX.) 

Agate, 8 

Agathis australis, the tree, 27 

Alaric, 181 

Alcohol, dissolves mastic resin, 
23; does not dissolve copal 
resin readily, 26; corrosive 
sublimate soluble in, 85. 
See also Soap, 88 

Aldegraver (early engraver), 
142 

Alkalies, 5, 13, 18, 31, 79 

Alkalies, the properties of, 
82; action upon vegetable 
colours, 82; never to be 
used in strong solutions, 84. 
(For details of their value in 
the arts see Chap. X.) 

Alpinia galanga. See Arrow- 
root. 

Oo PICTURES 


193 


Alum, 28 

Alumina, sulphate of, 88 

Amateur Photographer, 126 

Amber, 26 

America, 26 

Ammonia (or volatile alkali), 
18; its affinity for carbonic 
acid, 83. See also Chap. X. 

persulphate of, 135 

Ammoniacum, I9I 

Angelo, Michel, 141 

Animé, a W. Indian resin used 
in the manufacture of 
varnish, 26 

Antwerp blue, 57 

Apocalypse, emerald rainbow 
of the, 97 

Apparatus, 6 

Aqua fortis (nitric acid), 76, 92 

Aqua regia (nitro muriatic 
acid), 76, 92 

Architectural drawings, 
thods of cleaning, 105 

Arrowroot (Mavanta arundt- 
nacea) makes a paste of the 
finest quality, 126 

Bermuda, 126 

Aspergillus glaucus 
mould ’’), 87 

Asphaltum 16 

Athenzus, 100 


me- 


(‘‘ blue 


Balsam, Canada, 25 
Barium, chloride of, 80 
Bartolozzi, 155 
Baryta, nitrate of, 80 


104 


Bath, the, 38, 41, 47, 49, 59, 
12%, 115 

wooden, 5, 6 

zinc, 5 

Battista, Franco, 141 

Beni-ye (Japanese print), 114 

Bermuda arrowroot, 126 

Bistre, 55, 57 

Bisulphate of potash, 80 

Bitartrate of potash (cream of 
tartar), 79 

Black, a valuable pigment, 105 

lead or plumbago, 55 

oxide of manganese, 36 

Bleaches for wood and silk, 79 

Bleaching powder, 37, 45 

process, 36 

solutions, 42, 44, 51, 76 

Blemishes beneath varnish, 19 

~ Bloom *" BF “chin” Yn 
varnish, 26, 176 

Blotting-paper, 3, 13, 35, 38, 
49, 50, 53, 69, 108, 115, 121, 
136 

Blue, 58 

Blue-black, 54 

Blue, cobalt, 56 

Blue complementary to orange, 
6 


I 

Blue vitrol (sulphate of copper), 
92 

Boiled oil, 21 

Boiling water to soften paste, 
50 

Bonnacker, Albert 
Dirers, 142 

Boschini, 20 

Bread or dough for removing 
surface markings on old 
prints, 114, 179 

Brewster, Sir David, 58 

Britain, 181, 182 

British Museum, 163 

Bromide paper, 137 

potassium, 135, 138 

Brown, madder, 55 

pink, 57 

Browns, the, 55 


forged 


INDEX 


Brushes, 9, 29, 31, 33, 42, 54 

Buckshorn, Joseph idiseipia of 
Lely’s), 150 

Burette, i.e. a graduated glass 
tube, 45 

Burlington Magazine, 156 

Burnisher, a, 8 

Burnt umber, 55 

Byron, Lord, 142 


Cadmium, deep, 56 

Cesar, Julius, 181 

Cake water-colours, 53 
Calcium, chloride of, 123 
Calomel (chloride of mercury), 


92 

Camel-hair brushes, 7, 35, 69 

Camphor, 25 

Canada balsam, 25 

Canvas bag, use of, 43 

Carbolic acid, 80, 127 

Carbonate of soda, 36, 47 

Carbonic acid, 81 

Care of pictures and drawings, 
Chap. XX. 

Carmine, 57 

Castile soap, 31 

Caustic potassa (hydrate potas- 
sium), 92 

Cement for broken china or 
glass, Ig! 

Citric acid, 79; 
of, 80 

Citrine, 63 

Chalk (carbonate calcium), 92. 
See also Carbonate of lime, 


adulteration 


154 
Chalk, drawing, 154 
Chamois leather, 31 
Charles I., 149 
Charles II., 150 
Chaucer, 96 
Chemical affinity, 17 
knowledge, 16 
reaction, 17 
substances, signs, etc., 90 
Chemicals, 44, 46, 73; import- 
ance of using pure, 84 


INDEX , 


Chen-ki-Souen, 103 

Chevreul, Mons., 67 

China, Pantheon of, 104; wares 
of, 188 

Chinese, the, 187, 188 

Chinese lac brush, 33 

Chios, 23 

Chloride of barium, 80 

Chloride of lime, 37, 44, 47, 75, 
79, 108 

Chloride, liquid, 36 

Chlorine, 36, 45, 165 

Chlorine gas, 44 

Chloroform (chloride of gor- 
myle), 92 

Chromic acid, 77 

Chromium, oxide of, 56 

Chuban, Japanese vertical 
print 113 

Church, Sir Arthur H., 24 

Citric acid, 77 

Citrine brown, 55 

Claude’s pictures, 14 

Claudius, 181 

Cleaning a “‘ black and white ”’ 
or monochrome drawing, 
107, 108 

pastel drawings, 156 

and restoration of Mu- 

seum exhibits, 163 

an unvarnished print, 4o 

varnished prints, 34 

water-colour drawings, 48 

Cloves, oil of, 39, 80, 124, 127 

Cobalt blue, 56 

Coconut oil, 84 

Colour prints, 70, 81 

Colours, 9 

Colours and how to blend them, 
58; complementary, 61; for 
use, 54; mixing, 54; second- 
ary, 60 

Compasses, 6 

Constable copies, 146 

Constantine, 95 

Constantius, Flavius Valerius 
Chlorus, 181 

Copal, 22, 26, 27, 190 


195 


Copper, sulphate of, 177 

Corea the birthplace of ink 
manufacture, 103 

Coreans, the, 187 

Corot the poetic painter, 143, 
146 

Correggio, 141, 173 

Corrosive sublimate (bichloride 
of mercury), 82, 85, 86, 166 

Cotton wool, 43 

Cowry, or Kauri-pine resin, 26 

Cream of tartar (bitartrate of 
potash), 79, 92 

Creases in prints, 112 

Creta L@vis, 154 

Crimson, 57 

Cromwell, Oliver, 150 

Cut-out mounts, 71 

Cuyp’s pictures, 14 


Daguerre, Louis Jacques 
Maude (French artist), 143 

Dammara australis, 27 

Daubigny, 146, 155 

Davenport (pupil of Lely’s), 
150 

Da Vinci, 173 

Delacroix, 143 

Desenfans, Mr. Noel, 146 

Developers, photographic, 135, 
138 

Dewint’s green, 56 

Dextrine, 128 

Diaz, the forest painter, 146 

Disinfecting solution, Labar- 
rague’s, 36 

Distilled water, 36, 44, 45 

Dixon, John, 150 ~ 

Drawing papers, the sizes of, 
71 

Drawings, their removal from 
cardboard mounts by steam, 
108 ; 

method of cleaning, 108, 


109 
Dublin Law Courts, 86 
Dulwich Gallery, 146 
Diirer, Albert, 142 


196 


East Indies, 26 

Eau de Javelle, 36 

Egypt, Pyramids of, 154 

Egyptian artists alive to the 
importance of colour, 105 

signs and symbols, 96 

Triad, 96 

Elemi resin, 25 

Emblems, 94 

Emollients, 18 

England, 20 

Epsom salts (sulphate of mag- 
nesia), its similarity to 
oxalic acid, 78 

Ether, 85, 190 

Etruscans, the, 182 

Eudel, M. Paul (student of 
counterfeit art), 145 

Exeter, 149 

Eyden, John Cauder, 150 


Ficke, Mr. Arthur Davison, 
117; his book on Japanese 
prints, 118 

Field, George, his valuable 
works on colours, 67 

Filtration, 24 

Fischer, Johann, 142 

Fixatives for pastels, 179 

Flake white, 21 

Foraminifera, 154 

Formaldehyde (‘‘ formalin ’’), 
167 

Formula in chemistry, 90 

Franco, Battista, 141 

French blue, 56 

ultramarine, 56 

Friction, method of, 18, 31, 48 

Fungi, 87 


Gainsborough, Thomas (copied 
Vandyck exquisitely), 148, 
I5I 

Gamboge, 57 

Gandy, James (a disciple of 
Vandyck), 151 

William, 149 


INDEX 


Gartner, forged Albert Diirers, 
142 

Gaspars, John Baptist, 150 

Gelatine, 126 

** Genius Loci,”’ 99 

Geranium red, 86 

Germany, 141, 143 

Giacopo de Pantormo, 141 

Glass, plate, 2, 4 

powdered, 24 

Glucose (grape sugar), 92 

Glue, 72, 108, 178 

Glue, not advisable to use as a 
mountant, 122; frequently 
cracks, 123; how made, 124 

Glue-pot, 39 

Glycerine, 127 

Gold mounts, 68 

solvent for, 76 

Gowers’ formula for a mount- 
ant, 127 

Great Architect of the Uni- 
verse, an emblem of, 96 

Greek artists, composed their 
blacks from the charcoal of 
burnt vine-twigs, 105 

Greeks, the, 182, 183 

Green, Dewint’s, 56 

—— earth, 56 

olive, 55 

Greenhill, John 
Lely), 150 

Greuze, 145 

Griffier, Jan, remarkable for his 
imitations of Ruysdael,. 
Sachtleven, Rembrandt, 
Teniers, Elsheimer, Berchem, 
Lingelbach, Poelenburgh, 
Wouwerman, Salvator Rosa, 
and others, 146 

Grinding colours, 16 

Gum, 35, 50, 108, 127, 178 

water, 107; injurious to 

water-colours, 178 

copal, 26 


(disciple of 


Hack-saw, 7 
Halstow, 184 


INDEX 


Hamburg, 142 

Hanneman, Adrian, 151 

Harmonious contrasts of 
colours, 61 

Harmony of analogy, 64 

of colour, 63 

Harp Alley, Shoe Lane, the 
residence of artists, 101 

Harunobu (Japanese artist), 
his prints, III, 117 

Hashiva-ye, Japanese print, 
very tall and narrow, 113 

Hatching, 52 

Hatton Garden, 169 

Haydon, the artist, 15 

Helianthus or sunflower, 89 

Henry, Mr. Ethelbert, 126 

“ Herculés Pillars,’’? a tavern 
sign, 100 

Heron’s gas burner, 138 

Higgin’s “ photo-mounter,”’ 
128 

Hiroshige (Japanese artist), his 
prints, 111, 118 

Hogarth, 148 

Hog-hair brushes, 31 

Honorius, Augustus Flavius, 
181 

Hydrate of potassium, 138 

Hydrochloric acid, 45, 80, 164 

Hydrogen, 77 

peroxide, 168 

Hydroquinone, 135, 138 

Hypochlorite of soda, 36 


Imhoff, a Nuremberg artist 
who forged Albert Diirer’s 
drawings, 142 

India paper, 47 

print, 47 

rubber, 114 

Indian or Chinese ink, 103; its 
manufacture, 102; its use by 
architectural draughtsmen, 
106; how to clean drawings 
made with it, 102 

Indigo, 57 

sulphate of, 45 


Ao7 


Ingres, 143 

Ink stains, 51; removal of, 78 

Iodide of potassium, 86 

Iron mould, 8; removal of, 78 

Tsinglass, 191 

Iso, 97 

Italy, 141, 181, 182 

Ivory-black, 54, 55; its ten- 
dency to brown in pale 
washes, 107; perfectly dur- 
able if used by itself, 107 

Ivory palette knife, 8 


Jamesone, George, styled the 
Vandyck of Scotland, 151 

Jametal, Maurice, 103 

Japan, Old, 186; old wares 
of, 188 

Japanese, the 187; _ their 
methods of using black from 
its deep luminous tones to 
the softest grey, 105 

prints; 117; 

them, 110 

paper, 47; care should be 
taken in mounting, 116 

Javelle, Eau de, 36 

Julius Cesar, 181 


cleaning 


Kempfer, Dr., old authority 
on Japan, 187 

Kakemono-ye, Japanese print, 
very tall and wide, 113 

Kauri-pine resin, 26 

Kiang-Si, the province of, 102 

King’s yellow, or orpiment 
(sulphide of aysenic), 57; a 
deadly poison, 93 

Kiyonaga (Japanese artist), his 
prints, 111 

Kneller, Sir Godfrey, the Ger- 
man who established in 
England the practice of 
manufacturing portraits,148, 
149 

Koban, Japanese vertical print 
smaller than the Chuban, 
113 


198 


Koriusai (Japanese 
pillar prints of, 117 
“* Kyanising,’’ 86 


artist) 


Labarrague’s Disinfecting so- 
lution, 36 

Lac brush, 33 

Lamp-black, 54, 103 

Lang, Andrew, 180 

Lankrink, Prosper Henry, 150 

Laurel, the, 89 

Lavender, oil of spike, 26 

Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 155 

Lead, sugar of (acetate of lead), 
13, 93 

Leather, chamois, 31 

Leather Lane, Holborn, 189 

Lee, Vernon, 99 

Leighton, Lord, 155 

Lely, Sir Peter, 148, 150 

Levant, 23 

Lime (oxide of calcium), 81, 93 

slaked (hydrate calcium), 


93 
Lime, chloride of, 37, 108 
muriate of (chloride of 
calcium), 93 
sulphate of. See Stucco. 
water, test for the pres- 
ence of oxalic acid, 78 
Linseed oil, 26 
Liquid chloride, 36 
Liquor potasse chlorinate, 36 
Liquor sodz chlorate, 36, 47 
Lithia, 83 
Li-Ting-Kouei, ancient Chinese 
inkmaker, 103 
Litmus paper, 51, 80 
Lubricating oil, 7 
Lunar caustic (nitrate of silver), 
93 


Madder brown, 55 
purple, 57 
Magnesia, 81 
sulphate of (Epsom salts), 
8 


7 
Mahl stick, ro 


INDEX 


Manganese, black oxide of, 36 

Maori, 26 

Mavranta arundinacea. See 
Arrowroot. 

Marcello Venusti, 141 

Marrone, 63 

Masters, the old, 20 

Mastic varnish, 19, 22, 24, I91 

Mediums, 13 

Medway, the, 184 

Megilp, 13 

Mercury, perchloride of (other- 
wise corrosive sublimate), 85 

Merrifield, Mrs., 67 

Metallic oxides, 83 

Methylated spirits, 35, 127. 
(See also Alcohol, Rectified 
spirits, Spirits of wine, etc.) 

Metsu, 15 

Michel Angelo, 141 

Mildew, mould, etc., 
See Chap. X. 

Mineral alkali (soda), 83 

poisons, the danger of, 74 

Mixing colours, 54 

Mount cutters, 7 

Mountants _ generally. 
Chap. XV 

Mounting board, 2, 121 

prints, 4 

Mounts and mounting. 
Chap. VIII. 

Murex and purpura, two little 
shell-fish, 85 

Murexide, the Tyrian dye or 
Roman purple, 85 

Muriate of lime (chloride of 
calcium), 93 

Muriatic acid, 74 


in prints. 


See 


See 


Naples yellow, 56 

Nelson’s No. 1 gelatine, 126 

New Burlington Street, the 
first street distinguished by 
numbers, 101 

Nishiki-ye, Japanese brocade 
picture, 114 

Nitrate of baryta, 80 


INDEX 


Nitre of saltpetre (nitvate of 
potash), 93 

Nitric acid. See Aqua fortis. 

Nitro muriatic acid. See Aqua 
regia. 

Nuremberg, 142 


Oban, Japanese print full-size 
upright sheet. Often 
mounted as Kakemono, 113 

Ochres, 56 

Oil, boiled, 21 

linseed, 26 

of cloves, 39, 80 

of spike lavender, 26 

of turpentine, 74 

of vitriol (sulphuric acid), 


93 
Oil paintings, 72; varnishing, 
2 


3 
stone, Turkey, 7 
Oils, 22 
Olive green, 55 
lake, 57 
oil, 31, 72, 84 
Ormond, Duke of, 152 
Otterham Creek, 184 
Oxalic acid, 8, 51. 
Chap. IX. 
Oxalis, 77 
Oxide of chromium, 56 


Oxygen, 77 
Ozone, 89 


See also 


Palette, the, 8 

water-colour, 2, 4 
Palette-knives, 8 

Palm oil, 84 

Pan, varnish, 30 

Pantormo, Giacopo da, 141 
Paper, India, 47 

Japanese, 47 

Paraffin, 117 

Parchment, 39, 119, 121 
Paris, 143 

Exhibition of 1867, 186 
plaster of, 189. See also 
Stucco. 


199 

Paste, 3, 39, 41, 108. See also 
Chap. XV. 

Paste, impurities of, 50; made 
of the finest flour is best, 125 

Pastels, crayons, and chalks. 
See Chap. XVII. 

Pasting board, 2 

Patent size, 21 

Pearl-ash, 28 

Pencil, 31 

drawings, 55 

Pencils, method of mounting, 


9 

Penicillium glaucum, 88 

Pepys, frequent mention of the 
** Herculés Pillars,’’ 100 

Perchloride of mercury, 85 

Permanganate of potash, 87 

Perronneau, Jean-Baptiste (the 
pastellist), 156 

Persulphate of ammonia, 135 

Phosphoric acids, 77 

Photographing pictures. See 
Chap. XVI. 

Picture cleaners, 12, 31 

faking and picture fakers. 
See Chap. XVII. 

Picture mastic, 27 

Pigments, 16, 17, 54; glazing, 


25 
Pilkington, 149 
Pincers for straining canvas, 6 
Pistacia Lentiscus, the tree, 23 
Plate glass, 41, 42, 49, 50, 136 
Platina, solvent for, 76 
Player, Mr., 138 
Playertype method of photo- 
graphing prints, 137 
Plumbago or black lead, 55 
Poisonous acids, 77 
colours, 74 
Poisonous substances, 86 
Poppy oil, 13 
Porcelain mortar, 45 
Portal, the Baron Frédéric, 67 
Positive colours, 65 
Potash (oxide of potassium), 93 
carbonate of, 36 


200 


Potash, nitrate of, 93 

permanganate of, 87 

water, I 

Potass (or vegetable alkali), 83 

Potasse chlorinate, liquor, 36 

Potassium bromide, 135, 138 

carbonate, 135 

hydrate, 138 

Potteries in Staffordshire, 185 

Pottery, Early English, 185 

Press, a, 2, 4 

Primitive colours, 58, 63 

man, 180 

Primitives, Exhibition of, 144 

Prism, the, 58 

Properties of various acids, 76 

Prout’s monochromes, 105, 106 

Prud’hou, 143 

Prussian blue, 57 

Punch, a, 7 

Purple madder, 57 ~- 

valued by the Roman 
Emperors, 85 

Purpura and murex, two little 
shell-fish, 85 

Pyridine, 170, 171 

Pyroligneous acid, 46 


Rack easel, 10 

Rape seed oil, 84 

Raphael Sanzio, 141, 173 

Raw sienna, 56 

Realgar (sulphide of arsenic), 93 

Red, 58; complementary colour 
to green, 61 

Relining, 20, 21 

Report issued by His Majesty’s 
Stationery Office on new 
methods of restoring, Chap. 
XIX. 

Report of the National Gallery 
“with regard to the applica- 
tion of water to the surface 
of a picture,” 175 

Resin, 19, 22, 26; Elemi, 25; 
Cowry or Kauri-pine, 26 

Restoration work, 52; carefully 
performed in England, 20 


INDEX 


Restorers, 12, 21 

Retouching, 19, 20, 21 

Revarnishing, 22 

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 15, 151 

Rice makes an excellent paste, 
125 

Rinsing prints, 42 

Roman Emperors, purple 
colour valued by them, 85 

Romans, the, 181, 182, 185 

Rome, 13, 20 

Romney, 148 

Royal Scottish Yacht Club, 


155 
Rubber piping, 42 
Rubens, the school of, 151 
Rumex, 77 
Ruprecht, Johann, 142 
Russet, 63 
Rust, 8, 51 
Rye flour paste, 125 


Sage green, 56 

St. Anthony, 95 

St. Christopher, 95 

St. George, 95 

St. Lucy, 98 

St. Paul, 94 

St. Ursula, 99 

St. Ursula’s Church, treasury 
of, 99 

Sal-ammoniac (chloride of 
ammonium), 93 

Salt, common (chloride of 
sodium), 92 

Salt of sorrel, 77 

Salt of tartar (carbonate of 
potassa), 28, 92 

Samian ware, 183, 185 

Sand, 24, I9I 

Sanzio, Raphael, 141 

Scarlet lake, 57 

—— pimpernel, 57 

pure, 57 

Schongauer (early engraver), 


142 
Scott, Dr. Alexander, 163 
Sebastian of Venice, 141 


INDEX 


Sebright, Sir T., an amateur 
restorer, 13 

Secondary colours, 60 

Settle, W. F. (marine painter), 
155 

Severus, Lucius Septimius, 
emperor of Rome, 181, 183 

Sharon, rose of, 99 

Sheerness, 184 

Shellac, 22 

Shoemaker’s knives useful, 7 

Sienna, raw, 56 

Signs, abbreviations, etc., used 
in formule, 91 

Silica, 190 

Siliceous sand, 190 

Size, patent, 21; sizing, 39 

Sizes of various drawing papers, 


71 
Slater, Mr. J. W., 84 
Smith, engravings of, 143 
Soaking prints, 41 


Soap, 13, 31, 32 See also 
Chap. X. 
powder, 18 
Soda (oxide of sodium), 


mineral alkali, 93 

carbonate of, 36, 190 

—— hypochlorite, 36 

sulphite, 135, 138 

Sode chlorate, liquor, 36 

Solvents, 16, 18, 23,25) da 

Sorrel, salt of, 77 

Spectrum, the, 61 

Spirits of hartshorn. See 
undey Ammonia, Chap. X. 

Spirits of salt. See Hydro- 
chloric or Muriatic acid, 
Chap. IX. 

Spirits of wine, 22, 27 

rectified, 191 

methylated, 18, 35, 127. 

See also Alcohol. 

of turpentine, 22, 24 

Sponge, 2, 7, 31, 34, 49, 108 

Sporting prints, 38 

Stains in prints, 112 

_water-colour drawings, 51 


201 


Standard test-liquor, 45 

Starch, 126, 127 

Steel tools, 7 

Stevens, Alfred George (painter 
and sculptor), 155 

Stipple engravings, the study 
of, 52 

Stippling, 52, 53 

Stopping, 21 

Stretchers of canvases, 178 

Stucco or plaster of Paris 
(sulphate of lime), 93, 168 

Sugar of lead (acetate of lead), 93 

Sulphate of alumina, 88 

of indigo, 45 

of magnesia (Epsom salis), 


78 
Sulphur, 57 
Sulphuric acid, 128. 
Chap. IX. 
Sunflower, the, 89 
Surimono, a Japanese print of 
small size, 113 
Symbolism in art, 94; instruc- 
tive in the study of Early 
Christian art, 95 


See also 


Tack drawer, 6 

Tacks, brass, 122 

copper, 122 

Tallow, 84 

Tang dynasty, Emperors of, 
102; interesting legend, 104, 
105 

Tartar, salt of. See Pearl-ash. 

Tartaric acid, 79; the adultera- 
tion of, 80 

Tau, a form of cross, 95 

Taxidermists, their use of 
corrosive sublimate, 86 

Tears in prints, 111 

Temple Bar, 185 

Teniers, imitated by Jan 
Griffier, 146 

Terburg, 15 

Terre verte or green earth, 56 

Thausing, Herr (biographer of 
Albert Diirer), 142 


202 


Thebes, monument at, 97, 98 
Thorwaldsen, 155 

Thymol, 166 

Tilson, Henry, 150 

Titian, 141, 173 

Tobacco, use of, 74 

Tools, 1, 10 

Tower Hill, 185 

Turner, the artist, 16 
Turpentine, 13, 19, 30, 32, 35 
spirit of, 9, 24 

Venice, 25 

Tyrian dye, 85 


Uchiwa-ye, Japanese print in 
the shape of a fan, 114 

Uhki-ye, Japanese _bird’s-eye 
view print, 113 

Ultramarine, 56 

ash, 57 

Umber, burnt, 55 

Upchurch, 184 


Valenta’s mountant, 128 

Vandals, the, 181 

Vandyck’s imitators and copy- 
ists, 151; his etchings, 152 

Varley’s monochromes, 105, 
106 

Varnish, 13, 14, 20, 22, 24, 27, 
29, 39, 31, 35, 190; brittleness 
of, 25; various remedies 
devised for brittleness, 25; 
“chill” 6r ™bibom."* 48; 
176 

Varnishes and varnishing, 22, 
28, 30 

Varnishing oil paintings, 23, 29 

Vegetable alkali. See Potass, 

Vellum, 39, 119 

Venetian costumes, their rich 
colours, 174 

Venice turpentine, 25 

Venusti, Marcello, 141 


INDEX 


Verdigris (basic 
copper), 93 
Vermilion (sulphide of mercury), 


acetate of 


not to be mixed with 
white lead, 57 
Veronese, Paul, 15, 20 


Vinegar, wood. See Acetic 
acid. 

Violet or purple, 59 

Volatile alkali. See Ammonia. 


menstrua, 26 


Ward, engravings of, 143 

Water-colour drawing, 48 

Water-colours, 54 

Watteau, 155, 170 

Webb, James (marine painter), 
spoilt his reputation by 
imitating Constable, 146 

Wedgwood, 185, 186 

Westminster oven, 147 

Whatman paper, 3 

Whistler, 155 

Whiting, its use, 21 

Wilkie, Sir David, 15 

Winchester Cathedral, 98 

Wine, spirits of, 13, 22, 27. 
See also under Alcohol, Recti- 
fied and Methylated spirits. 

Wiseing, William, 150 

Wood vinegar. For details of 
wood vinegar see undery Acetic 
and Pyroligneous acid. 

Workroom, the, 1 

Worm-holes, 5; in prints, 110, 
III, 116 


Yellow, 58, 59; the comple- 
mentary colour to purple, 61 

Yoko-ye, Japanese horizontal 
print, 113 

York, 181 


Zinc bath, 5 


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